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The first two recipients of a groundbreaking cancer treatment developed at the University of Pennsylvania remained cancer-free a decade later, leading researchers to utter a word that’s typically taboo in cancer circles: cure. Penn researchers in 2010 treated their first chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with CAR-T therapy, which uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. In a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, researchers report that their first two patients were still cancer-free 10 years after their treatment. What’s more, the cells were still present, protecting against future lymphoma invaders. (Gantz, 2/2)

In 2010, doctors treated Doug Olson’s leukemia with an experimental gene therapy that transformed some of his blood cells into cancer killers. More than a decade later, there’s no sign of cancer in his body. The treatment cured Olson and a second patient, according to the University of Pennsylvania doctors, who said it was the first time the therapy had been studied for so long. “I’m doing great right now. I’m still very active. I was running half marathons until 2018,” said Olson, 75, who lives in Pleasanton, California. “This is a cure. And they don’t use the word lightly.” (Ungar, 2/2)

“It was, at the time, an idea way out there,” Carl June, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania and the senior researcher on the experiment, said in a call Tuesday with reporters. “In the informed consent document that Doug signed, we thought [the CAR-T cells] would be gone in a month or two.” But as the researchers tracked Olson and another patient, what they saw was remarkable: Year after year, the CAR-T cells persisted, actively watching for cancer cells. Olson has now been cancer-free for a decade, June and his colleagues reported Wednesday in Nature. The results are so enduring that June dared to use a word that oncologists are usually loath to say: cured. (Chen, 2/2)

Based on the study results, "we can now conclude that CAR-T cells can actually cure patients with leukemia," June said. The CAR-T cells are an immunotherapy treatment designed to treat leukemia by harnessing the body's own immune system to target the cancer. The therapy sends a patient's immune cells to a lab to be genetically modified using a virus and gives the cells the ability to recognize and kill the source of the cancer. (Howard and Hassan, 2/2)

"Oncologists, cancer doctors, researchers don't use words like 'cure' lightly or easily or frankly very often," said Dr. Doug Porter, who treated Olson for his leukemia. "We really believe we can start to use the word 'cure.' "Others are stopping short of that word but remain impressed by the promise of so-called CAR-T cells, a "living drug" that has now been given to tens of thousands of patients, regularly providing extra years of healthy life. In a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, the Penn team showed that CAR-T cells given to Olson and another patient, William Ludwig, in 2010 were still present. In a dish those cells were still able to kill leukemia cells. (Weintraub, 2/2)

Although most patients will not do as well, the results hold out hope that, for some, their cancer will be vanquished. But mysteries remain. The treatment involves removing T cells, white blood cells that fight viruses, from a patient’s blood and genetically engineering them to fight cancer. Then the modified cells are infused back into a patient’s circulation. (Kolata, 2/2)

Back in 2000, when President Clinton called a tie in the race to map the human genome, scientists forecasted a medicinal revolution, one in which scientists could ferret out the genetic roots of every known cancer and match patients with personalized treatments. That did not happen, for reasons of biological complexity, technological immaturity, and perhaps a little scientific hubris. But after two decades of mapping the kaleidoscopic details of human DNA, researchers believe they finally have the tools and techniques to live up to those lofty promises. (Garde, 2/2)