Scientists are absolutely astonished at a new study on patients who have advanced multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells, which seems to show that a new therapy has an incredible response rate. Bluebird Bio Inc’s experimental gene-modifying immunotherapy showed a staggering 94 percent response rate in a small early stage study of 18 patients.

That means of the 18 myeloma patients who got a dose of bb2121, only one failed to respond to the treatment. In addition, 56 percent remained in remission after a follow up was performed about 40 weeks after the treatment took place.

It’s a huge development that was reported at the American Society of Hematology meeting, which took place in Atlanta recently. Many of the patients continue to be recovering and doing very well, even though some were on their way to hospice until they received the treatment.

“Two investigational immunotherapy approaches, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, have shown encouraging results in the treatment of multiple myeloma patients who had relapsed and were resistant to other therapies,” reads the statement from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center administered CAR T cells to patients following chemotherapy, with 64 percent of patients responding in a clinical trial. In a separate study, patients got an infusion of an experimental monoclonal antibody, which resulted in an overall response rate of 60 percent. Both of these investigational approaches targeted a receptor called B-Cell Maturation Antigen (BCMA), which is highly expressed in myeloma and thus a promising target for treatment. These studies will be presented as oral abstracts at the 59th Annual American Society of Hematology Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta.”