On 4 June 2021, India’s first CAR-T cell therapy, which was done at Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Centre, was for which of the following ailments?

The correct answer is Blood cancer.

Key Points

• The first CAR-T cell treatment (a sort of gene therapy) was performed at the Bone Marrow Transplant unit at ACTREC, Tata Memorial Center in Mumbai on June 4, 2021, making it a momentous day for TMH, the IIT Bombay team, and cancer care in India.
• The Bioscience and Bioengineering (BSBE) department of IIT Bombay created and produced CAR-T cells.
• The BIRAC-PACE programme partially funds this work.
• DBT/BIRAC further sponsors the TMC-IIT Bombay team through the National Biopharma Mission to prolong this initiative for conducting Phase I/II trials of their CAR-T product.

Additional Information

• Bone Transplant 
  • Changing the bone marrow of a patient is known as a stem cell transplant. If the bone marrow stops functioning and does not create enough healthy blood cells, patients may require a bone marrow transplant.
  • Cells from a donor or one's own body can be used in a bone marrow transplant (autologous transplant).
• Lung Transplant
  • One or both of the patient's lungs may be replaced via a surgical surgery known as a lung transplant, also known as a pulmonary transplant. Either a living or deceased donor can provide donors. A living donor is limited to giving one lung lobe.
  • A recipient may only need to receive one lung if they have certain pulmonary conditions.