Breakthrough cancer treatment coming to New Zealand

Comedian, actor, and author David Downs honestly and humourously shared his battle with lymphoma in his popular column ‘A Mild Touch of the Cancer’ Unfortunately his treatment failed and after 12 rounds of chemotherapy he was told that his cancer was terminal and he would most likely be dead within a year. On the same day he was given an opportunity to get on to a clinical trial of CAR-T cell treatment in Boston, USA. The therapy works by taking the immune cells – known as the T cells – out and genetically engineering them into “killer cells” before inserting them back into the blood. The gruelling and very expensive treatment saved his life. David is now instrumental in assisting Wellington’s Malaghan Institute to begin trials of CAR-T cell therapy in New Zealand. David will talk to Kim about his story, and he’ll be joined by the Malaghan Institute’s clinical director, Dr. Rob Weinkove, to talk about diagnosis, treatment and funding of treatments for cancer in New Zealand. David has also written a book about his experiences called A Mild Touch of the Cancer.

Breakthrough cancer treatment coming to New Zealand
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