The UAE’s first CAR-T cells, a ground-breaking blood cancer treatment in which a patient’s own cells are modified to track down and eradicate the disease, have been successfully created by experts in Abu Dhabi to treat an 11-year-old kid with leukaemia.

Murad received treatment from Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre (ADSCC) after receiving his initial leukaemia diagnosis more than five years ago

Murad’s leukaemia went into remission, but it came back earlier this year. He received chemotherapy, but the medication had no effect on his condition.
The ADSCCC stated that at that point, CAR-T cell therapy was his only option for treatment.

The process entailed creating the cellular product (CAR-T), which is dependent on using the patient’s immune cells, and resulted in a five-week therapy schedule.

In CAR T-cell treatment (also known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy), T cells are modified to become cancer-hunting proteins.

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A patient is linked to a device that resembles a dialysis machine, which syphons some of the patient’s blood and separates the T-cells. The patient’s body then receives the remaining blood.

These T-cells then undergo a complex genetic makeover in a lab setting to become skilled hunters that are programmed especially to target and remove the patient’s malignancy.