For Valentina, changing homes and continents was meant to mark a new beginning. However, the diagnosis of lymphoma came just as everything seemed ready. Within hours, her life was turned upside down, culminating in an experimental treatment at the time: CAR T-cell therapy.
Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that develops when lymphocytes (white blood cells) in the lymphatic system become abnormal, multiply and collect in the lymph nodes or other tissues. These cancerous cells impair the body’s ability to fight infection as part of the immune system. CAR T-cell therapy is a personalised immunotherapy in which a patient’s own T-cell lymphocytes are genetically engineered to recognise and kill cancer cells. It is primarily used to treat refractory blood cancers, such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The T-cells are harvested, modified with a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR), and then returned to the patient to fight tumour cells.
Six years after her personalised treatment, Valentina is enjoying a normal life again. In the fourth episode of our podcast series ‘The Science of You’, Valentina shares her story. As with all the other episodes, you can find Valentina’s story on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Podcast.