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#OTD celebrating 10 years since 1st CAR19 #Tcell infusion @PennMedicine We thank all patient #Heroes for volunteering to advance #cancer #Immunotherapy 
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/health/13gene.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/health/13gene.html
Since this has blown up, creating a thread. 1st and foremost to thank our early funders @ACGTFoundation @LLSusa @theNCI. Philanthropies are challenged during #COVID but #cancer takes no holiday. Please support them. And remind your legislators to support #cancerresearch
The 1st inkling that we had something unusual was a negative BM biopsy at 1 month, repeated and still negative. Then 2 more responses in advanced/refractory CLL, a PR and a CR. At that point, we were itching to tx more patients, but . . .
We were out of lentiviral vector and the funding we had at the time had run out
Carl June and David Porter met (remember meeting in person) at Starbucks and said, let's write it up and see what happens. The debate was a case study on one patient to @NEJM or a detailed report on all 3 to @ScienceTM? Carl brilliantly says, "Let's do both simultaneously!"
Remember, this was only 10 years ago, but #cancer #immunotherapy especially #celltherapy was dismissed as boutique, too difficult, not practical, yadda yadda. Very interesting to read those early grant reviews . . .
Fast forward to August, 2011 and both papers come out the same day. Here is the @NEJM case report (BTW, he is doing great) https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa1103849
Here is the @ScienceTM report, 3 patients. So grateful to many many @PennMedicine colleagues for their dedication and expertise on this https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/3/95/95ra73.long
There was excitement, but still skepticism. CLL is relatively indolent usually. What would happen in ALL? And hey, new unproven technology, let's test it in kids, because we have an ace in the rotation in @GruppSteve @PedCancerCare @ChildrensPhila
Enter our next patient hero, Emily Whitehead @EWhiteheadFdn, 8 years out now following her April 2012 CAR #Tcells and #cancer free. Oh, and she and her parents started a philanthropy to benefit peditric #cancerresearch See more here: https://emilywhiteheadfoundation.org/
More to come, I'll end for now with this thought. Pain and injustice are front and center this year, rightfully so. But, there are patient, philanthropist, healthcare heroes all around us, showing us the way forward.
