A promising but risky new group of customized cancer drugs will be in focus this weekend at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), where clinical trial results will help clarify their potential for doctors and investors. Experimental chimeric antigen receptor T-cells, or CAR-Ts, are made by genetically altering a patients’ own T-cells in the lab to help the immune system find and kill cancer cells. Early excitement over the drugs has propelled investor interest in biotech Kite Pharma Inc, whose shares have tripled since a 2014 initial public offering, as well as rival Juno Therapeutics Inc, whose therapy JCAR015 has generated concerns after five leukemia patients died due to severe brain swelling.
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New data on risk vs benefit for potent CAR-T cancer drugs