DOCTORS SAY IT WILL EXPAND.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
GOOD QUESTION, HERE'S HEATHER
BROWN.
Reporter: ARE YOU CANCER
FREE?
YES.
Reporter: CONGRATULATIONS.
IT'S PRETTY GREAT NEWS,
ISN'T IT?
Reporter: TWO YEARS AGO HE
BEAT CANCER AND TWO YEARS LATER
IT CAME BACK.
CHEMO WASN'T CUTTING IT.
IT WAS KEEPING IT IN CHECK BUT
DIDN'T GET RID OF IT.
THERE IS A NEW FRONTIER IN
MEDICINE.
Reporter: AND IT IS FDA
APPROVED TO TREAT PATIENTS WITH
LEUKEMIA.
WE WERE ABLE TO TAKE CELLS
AND TURN THEM INTO CELLS THAT
FIGHT CANCER.
Reporter: THIS MAN MET US AT
THE FAIR WHERE THE U OF M'S
TREATMENT WAS THE TALK OF THE
FAIR.
THIS IS A MAJOR LEAP.
Reporter: EXACT THE HOW DOES
THE THERAPY WORK.
ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE DO IS
TAKE THE PATIENT'S BLOOD,
SEPARATE OUT THEIR IMMUNE
CELLS, THE T CELLS.
Reporter: THEY SEND THE T
CELLS WHICH FIGHT INFECTIONS TO
A LAB TO BE GENETICALLY
MODIFIED.
WE PROCESS THE T CELLS SO
THEY HAVE ON THEM A
RESEPTEMBERER, SOMETHING THAT
-- RECEPTOR, SOMETHING THAT
TARGETS THEM TO THE LEUKEMIA
CELLS.
WE REINFUSE THOSE BACK INTO THE
PATIENT.
SINCE THEN IT'S BEEN GETTING
BETTER ALL THE TIME.
Reporter: JUST REVVING UP
CELLS THAT ARE MISSILES FOR THE
CANS WHIER.
CORRECT.
Reporter: DOCTORS EXPECT TO
OFFER THE TREATMENT FOR LIMB
FOAM THAT NEXT YEAR AND FOR
OTHER CANCERS WITHIN THE NEXT
DECADES.
BEFORE I DIDN'T KNOW IF I
WOULD BE HERE IN A YEAR OR TWO
OR THREE OR FOUR AND NOW I FEEL
LIKE I HAVE A NEW LEASE, MINOR
ISSUES BUT A NEW LEASE ON LIFE.
Reporter: WCCO4 NEWS.
SO FAR THIS TREATMENT HAS
BEEN USED WHEN OTHER TREATMENTS
LIKE CHEMO HAVE FAILED.
IT IS VERY EXPENSIVE COULD
COST ALMOST 500 THOUSAND A
