Happy to share a piece that I've been working on for several months, but thinking about writing for at least 5 years. In the past few years, engineered CAR T cells for childhood B-cell leukaemia treatment have been a fantastic option for patients who relapse after conventional therapies. Not enough time has elapsed and not enough children have been successfully treated yet to fully understand their long-term side effects, but they seem to be gentler on patients than conventional chemotherapy treatment, which although successful, comes with a host of well-described long-term health impacts.
In this long-read piece, I explore whether CAR T cells could and should ever be trialed as first-line therapy for children with leukemia, replacing traditional chemotherapy.
This is by far the most complex article I've ever written, weaving together numerous ethical and scientific discussions as well as vitally important personal stories. I want to thank all of the interviewees in the piece for their contributions including a parent of a child treated with CAR T cells, an ethics specialist and two consultant pediatric oncologists. Also the fantastic editorial team at Cancer World for their help with this article. It took a lot of time to get right and I am grateful for their support and patience.
I hope you enjoy the article.
