3 ms·
But her body ought to start manufacturing her original T-cells at some point, right? Or are the stem cells producing them cancerous too? Doesn't say that in the
by b800h 4y ago
But her body ought to start manufacturing her original T-cells at some point, right? Or are the stem cells producing them cancerous too? Doesn't say that in the article, and it doesn't seem like a reasonable inference, so there's a bit of detail missing there.
- sowbug 4y agoEven if the self-manufactured cells were healthy, the patient is vulnerable to infection with a compromised immune system, and adding more white blood cells reduces that vulnerability. Tangent: before undergoing some kinds of chemotherapy, patients are injected with drugs that stimulate white-blood-cell production. Most of your body's WBC production happens in the long bones of your body, and the sudden burst of "factory" activity makes your legs ache, the way growing pains hurt in children.
- psychphysic 4y agoThey destroyed her bone marrow twice. Leukemias are cancers of bone marrow. Usual tactic is chemo + bone marrow replacement and hope new tcells mop up cancer cells. Didn't quite work so they started with new marrow and made some changes to a supply of tcells they flooded her with. Once they couldn't find cancer they put the marrow on.