– I have had several relapses over many years. So it has affected my life quite a bit. That’s what 70-year-old Trine Bjørkvoll says, who got lymphoma many years ago. Last year she received the treatment which is now approved in Trondheim. – It has meant everything. We have two flag days for me in our family – September 5 and June 17, the day of my birthday. But September 5th is the day I got these cells in. – I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t received that treatment. At the cancer clinic at St. Olav, they have been working for a long time to become certified to provide precisely CAR-T treatment. St. Olav is now the first Norwegian hospital outside Oslo to offer this. St. Olav’s hospital is now the only hospital outside Oslo that offers cancer treatment. Photo: Linda Bjørgen / news Will save lives Unn Merete Fagerli is a senior doctor at the cancer ward. She points out that this has happened thanks to good efforts from the Cancer Society and a collective professional environment at the hospital. Now there are patients with aggressive lymphoma who can receive the treatment. – This is an advanced form of immunotherapy, she says, and explains how it all takes place: – We take the patient’s own immune cells out of the patient, harvest them as we say, and send them to a laboratory in Amsterdam. In the laboratory, with the help of genetic technology, they are modified and changed in such a way that they acquire properties that mean that when we give the patient his own cells back, they kill the lymph cancer cells. – For us as professionals, it is great to be able to participate in the development of advanced immunotherapy, says Fagerli. – Will this save lives? – It certainly will. Many lives later. Senior doctor Unn Merete Fagerli sits in the middle. Here she talks about the new treatment, including with the hospital director (right). Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Hospital director Tom Kristian Martinsen describes this as an important milestone. – It is also a treatment that can eventually be used for several groups of patients. He does not hide the fact that there are large costs for the treatment. It costs NOK 2 million per patient. – But the alternatives are also expensive. And this is primarily a treatment that can make patients healthy, and that is something new. Optimistic about the future Bjørkvoll, who was treated in Oslo, is happy that the treatment will also be offered in Trondheim. – Because it is quite tiring to travel and be away for a long time. I was in Oslo for five weeks straight. There have also been several trips back and forth to harvest and prepare myself for what will happen, as well as checks in Oslo. But now I let it go, now I can take it here. When she last relapsed in 2023, this was a form of treatment that was only available outside Norway’s borders. She has therefore felt the tension as to whether it was going to be approved or not. – When the day came, I was incredibly happy that everything fell into place: that the treatment was approved and that I was approved. There are a number of criteria that must be met. – Now I am very optimistic. Published 11.09.2024, at 16.40
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New cancer treatment at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
