Children with acute myeloid leukemia, approximately 25-30 per year in Italy, who do not respond to treatments and for whom there are currently no therapeutic options could soon have a new therapy.
By the second half of 2024, a clinical trial will start at the Bambin Gesù Children's Hospital that will test the effectiveness of a new therapy based on genetically modified immune system cells (Car-iNK) in children with acute myeloid leukemia.
This was announced by the head of the Pediatric Oncohematology and Cellular and Gene Therapy Area of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome Franco Locatelli during the presentation of the "The Future belongs to children" campaign promoted by Federfarma to support the Umberto Veronesi Foundation.
"It's a project we believe in a lot," Locatelli tells ANSA.
"Because acute myeloid leukemias that are refractory or relapse after conventional treatments represent a medical problem that has not yet been solved and therefore we need to test, and hopefully validate, innovative treatments.
These include immunotherapy represented in this specific case by Car-iNK cells which are a variation compared to the classic Car-T cells that we have learned to know in the context of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, lymphomas and multiple myeloma", adds Locatelli.
Car-iNK cells "represent an innovation compared to the already innovative Car-T cells", explains Locatelli.
"They are prepared by a third-party donor and are immediately available to the patient who needs them."
For the iNK cells developed by the team of Concetta Quintarelli, head of the Baby Jesus Tumor Gene Therapy Research Unit, the final checks are currently underway before presenting the dossier to the regulatory authorities.
The trial will be conducted at Bambin Gesù, in whose pharmaceutical workshop the cell therapy will be prepared.
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