Genetically-engineered T-cells show promise against rare and high-risk cancers.

A novel treatment using CAR-T cell therapy appears to work against tumors in children with neuroblastoma, a rare kind of cancer. Nine of 27 children in the Italian study had no sign of cancer six weeks after the treatment, although two later relapsed and died. The treatment is already used to help the immune system fight leukemia and other cancers in the blood. This is the first time researchers have achieved such encouraging results in solid tumors, experts in the field said, and raises hopes that it can be used against other kinds of cancers.