FDA Orders Drugmakers , to Add Cancer Warning to , CAR-T Treatments.<br />This week, the Food and Drug Administration <br />ordered drugmakers to add a warning to <br />CAR-T cancer therapy, saying that the <br />treatment may increase the risk of cancer.<br />NBC reports that a spokesperson for the FDA <br />said that despite the warning being ordered, , "the overall benefits of these products <br />continue to outweigh their potential risks.".<br />According to spokesperson Carly Kemper, <br />the FDA's decision was prompted by reports of <br />CAR-T patients developing rare forms of blood cancer.<br />Kemper said that as of January 22, <br />the agency had recorded 25 cases of <br />CAR-T patients developing blood cancer.<br />NBC reports that CAR-T, short for chimeric <br />antigen receptor T cell, uses a patient's own <br />immune cells to treat certain types of blood cancers.<br />T cells are harvested, genetically <br />altered to make them target cancer cells <br />and then reinfused into the patient. .<br />According to experts, the treatment has <br />been highly effective in hard-to-treat cases. .<br />This has been a game changer <br />when we think about treating<br />lymphoma and other diseases, Dr. Matthew Frigault, clinical director of <br />the Massachusetts General Hospital Cellular <br />Immunotherapy Program in Boston, via NBC.<br />NBC reports that the first CAR-T <br />therapy received FDA approval in <br />2017 with Novartis' drug, Kymriah.<br />Another five drugs have <br />since received FDA approval
