A team from the ‘CRIS Against Cancer’ Unit of Advanced Therapies of the Hospital de La Paz decided to use in patients with coronavirus the same technique used with children. The result has been a success, since thanks to this method They have managed to cure 9 patients who suffered from the disease.
Marta Cardona, director of the ‘CRIS against cancer’ Foundation, detailed how the idea came about: “We realized that cell therapy that we were using with children with cancer it could work in COVID patients. “
Cells to fight the virus
For its part, Cristina Ferreras, project manager of the aforementioned Unit, explained to La Sexta that “to children with low immune systems and are susceptible to virus infections they are injected with cells that have memory to fight against these viruses. “
Because of that, used this type of cells from patients who had already overcome COVID-19: “Here in the laboratory what we did was, inside his cells, see if they had these cells that recognize the coronavirus “Ferreras said.
The next phase of treatment consisted of identify those patients whose cells were most conducive to cover the largest number of the population. Everything to achieve one goal: “Rescaping that immune system, those specific lymphocytes against the virus, and select it to generate lymphocyte pharmacies that have the capacity to eliminate the coronavirus “, stressed the jDepartment of Pediatric Hemato-oncology at Hospital La Paz, Antonio Pérez.
Successful recovery
Once the cells are frozen, were applied to other infected patients. The technique has proven to be effective and has worked in nine patients: “They recover quickly, with fewer side effects and no toxicity “, Cardona said.
The trial has already achieved more than 190,000 euros of financing, although its total cost amounts to 500,000 euros. As Pérez indicated, “we have to try to create a treatment for athat patients who cannot receive the vaccine for whatever reason or for whom it is not effective “.