Scientists may have taken a big stride towards finding a cure for a type of blood cancer that has until now remained largely incurable.
Multiple myeloma has long proven to difficult to treat, although therapy can give patients years of extra life.
New approaches that help the immune system disease destroy the cancer cells may represent a step change compared to standard treatments, which have improved in recent decades.
A key new method involves adding a component called a receptor to T-cells – a type of white blood cell in the immune system – allowing them to better recognise and destroy the cancer.
Known as Car-T therapy – or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy - it has achieved remission rates in continuing Israeli trials of about 90 per cent in patients for whom other treatments are no longer effective.
Follow-ups with the patients in Israel have taken place over six months, so longer-term outcomes cannot yet be assessed but scientists say results so far appear promising.
Educating T-cells
A form of immunotherapy, Car-T therapy has been used to treat other cancers and approval has in recent years been limited to treatment for multiple myeloma.
Prof Cyrille Cohen, head of the Laboratory of Tumour Immunology and Immunotherapy at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, said the approach involved "educating" the T-cells to recognise and kill cancer cells.
The therapy is based on targeting BCMA, a protein overproduced in multiple myeloma cells.
Nothing so far in the recent history of multiple myeloma has achieved such results
Prof Anastasios Karadimitris,
Imperial College London
Prof Cohen's laboratory designed and tested numerous prototype receptors to determine which were most effective at helping the immune cells to use BCMA to identify and destroy the multiple myeloma cells.
"It’s like playing with Lego. You need to find the right combination, the right distance between the two molecules, the right combination of molecules inside the T-cell that will activate the T-cell," said Prof Cohen, president of the Israel Society for Cancer Research.
His group narrowed the choice down to four receptors and used tests to find the most effective.
Clinical trials, led by Prof Polina Stepansky, have been taking place at Hadassah University Medical Centre in Jerusalem in conjunction with a US biotechnology firm Nexcella.
"So far they treated more than 70 patients, which is commendable if you take into account this was developed just by a university and hospital, not by a multibillion [dollar] company," Prof Cohen said.
The treatment works by taking blood samples from multiple myeloma patients and separating out and multiplying the T-cells, which are altered by having genetic material added to them so that they produce the receptor for the target protein. The cells are then reinstated to the patient.
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New study finds strong link between ultra-processed foods and cancer
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Multiple myeloma accounts for about 10 per cent of all blood cancers and about 1 per cent of all forms of cancer. It is more common in older people, especially those over 70.
The condition forms in the bone marrow and takes its name from the fact that typically it affects bones in more than one part of the body, including the pelvis, spine and skull.
Symptoms include brittle bones, persistent pain, tiredness and weight loss.
Other than in very rare cases it cannot be cured, although treatments, which may involve chemotherapy, steroids and stem cell transplants, can control symptoms and extend a patient's lifespan.
Researchers across the globe are looking to develop or improve Car-T therapies for multiple myeloma, including Prof Anastasios Karadimitris, director of the Hugh and Josseline Langmuir Centre for Myeloma Research at Imperial College London.
"They have certainly increased the time during which the patient will have no active disease or no clinically active disease and now there is emerging evidence that they will improve survival of the patients," he said.
"They have been really a very significant increment in our ability to treat this otherwise incurable blood cancer."
In one recently reported clinical trial, patients who had relapsed after having other therapy had three times as long without active disease when given Car-T therapy compared to standard multiple myeloma treatments.
"That’s really very, very impressive. Nothing so far in the recent history of multiple myeloma has achieved such results," Prof Karadimitris said.
High cost
A stumbling block to the wider use of Car-T therapy is price: treatment developed by commercial pharmaceutical companies can cost as much as $400,000 per patient.
However, when academic groups such as those in London or Israel, create the treatments, costs are likely to be much lower, possibly as little as one fifth of what they would be if they had been developed in the private sector.
It is "too early to say", Prof Karadimitris said, whether any of the Car-T therapies will create a complete cure, but he added they could lead to improved longer-term outcomes.
"Maybe we will see the best survival rates that we’ve seen historically. Whether it will be curative it’s difficult to say," he said.
Another emerging form of immunotherapy to tackle multiple myeloma involves specific antibodies, whereby one arm of the antibody engages with a T-cell while the other attaches to a cancer cell.
"There’s one such product licensed," Prof Karadimitris said. "It’s hard to tell if it’s as good as Car-T cells because there haven’t been comparisons but certainly the results look very, very good."
As other new treatments have been introduced in recent decades, prospects for multiple myeloma patients have already improved, with Prof Karadimitris describing survival rates as having doubled over the past decade to 15 years.
Treatments either now being trialled or soon to be introduced may be just the beginning, with more potent options likely to become available.
"There is a lot of belief that these very interesting and unprecedented results that we’ve seen already, although they don’t show a curative trend yet … we can improve further," Prof Karadimitris said.
He said the hope is that combining treatments could achieve what doctors call an operational cure, the disappearance of all signs of cancer for a prolonged period, which would represent a major step forward in the treatment of multiple myeloma.
How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed
Based: Muscat
Launch year: 2018
Number of employees: 40
Sector: Online food delivery
Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EShaffra%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDIFC%20Innovation%20Hub%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Emetaverse-as-a-Service%20(MaaS)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Ecurrently%20closing%20%241.5%20million%20seed%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%20Abu%20Dhabi%20and%20different%20PCs%20and%20angel%20investors%20from%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enine%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Maxus T60
Price, base / as tested: Dh48,000
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder
Power: 136hp @ 1,600rpm
Torque: 360Nm @ 1,600 rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel consumption, combined: 9.1L / 100km
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain
Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 353Nm @ 2,500rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L / 100km
The five pillars of Islam
US Industrial Market figures, Q1 2017
Vacancy Rate 5.4%
Markets With Positive Absorption 85.7 per cent
New Supply 55 million sq ft
New Supply to Inventory 0.4 per cent
Under Construction 198.2 million sq ft
(Source: Colliers)
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Destroyer
Director: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Sebastian Stan
Rating: 3/5
UAE release: January 31
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
Easter%20Sunday
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
