LAMEZIA TERME A very long CV, thirty years of medical and research experience, positions so prestigious as to be, objectively, a source of pride for the whole of Calabria and its healthcare system. Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Center of the Great Metropolitan Hospital of Reggio Calabria and national coordinator of 80 transplant centers, Massimo Martino is one of those examples who document how even in Calabria it is possible to “do school” in the healthcare sector, the latter circumstance which, net of all the critical issues and delays, fundamentally disproves many of the stereotyped narratives about Calabrian healthcare.
The “Cellular therapies“
To confirm this, on the banks of the Strait, in the Mediterranean University, from 27 to 29 June in three days of discussion it will be possible to discover how excellent healthcare can be defined in Calabria too; the discussion will cover controversies in cell therapies. The in-depth context of the three days in Reggio reveals, in full, how research is already bringing about real revolutions in the healthcare sector «Cellular therapies – explains Martino – certainly represent one of the most important turning points in the treatment of some oncological pathologies, but also in hematology because the immune system plays a fundamental role in fighting neoplasms and tumors in the broadest sense. The discovery we are discussing is the one that led to the creation of therapies with drugs that are based on strengthening our immunological system which is not working.” «In practice – adds Martino – we are able to collect T lymphocytes from all patients who are affected by certain haematological pathologies, acute lymphoplastic leukemia, for example, or some forms of lymphoma. After collection, these cells are modified in the laboratory by some pharmaceutical companies so that they express the specific target for the tumor cells and are then returned to the center which provides the treatments and re-administers them to the patient.”
«An extraordinary revolution»
Even more simply, Martino specifies: «In short, it is as if we, for the first time in history, we could create a living and specific drug that starts from the patient to be treated. This, let me tell you, conceptually is an extraordinary revolution.” But the scope of application of the method is even broader «for hemoglobinopathies, especially thalassemia and microdrepanocytosis, studies have been completed, soon we could also use the genetic modification of the stem cell which unfortunately produces these forms of hemoglobinopathies. This is because theand stem cells of the patient suffering from thalassemia and microtrepanocytosis can be genetically modified in vitro, reinfused into the patient himself and therefore cure what is the typical alteration of these diseases with patients forced to continually undergo transfusions and all the negative effects this entails.”
«Until 3-4 years ago we had no alternative»
Martino is keen to clarify the contours of the method and, above all, the meaning of the controversies regarding cell therapies «there is no ethical dimension, we are talking about adult stem cells and with reference to products that are already commercially authorized by AIFA. The controversies we will discuss in Reggio Calabria concern the fact that there may often be alternative therapies, such as an allogeneic transplant or another type of drug, and therefore we must try to understand, by discussing among ourselves, which is the ideal patient to obtain the maximum responses from these therapies. We are talking about a revolutionary approach, until 3-4 years ago we had no alternative, practically patients in these conditions were destined to die from the disease, today however with the so-called CAR T therapies they have an important 4-year survival and at least the 30% of patients can be free of the disease. We await longer follow-ups over time.”
“We must proceed with caution”
In the long conversation with the Courier of Calabria Dr. Martino does not hide an approach that is prudent but at the same time burden of the satisfaction that belongs to the doctor aware of being able to give more answers to the question of health «we must always proceed with caution, we want to treat blood tumors, very serious diseases and for which the prospects of recovery are conceptually poor. With these therapies, a small door is opening, we hope, it becomes bigger and bigger and can truly lead to a prognostic change. This is definitely a historic moment.” Equally evident is the satisfaction with the fact that these paths are being implemented in Calabria. «Reggio certainly represents a national reference for transplant therapy and cell therapy. However, I would say not only Reggio but Calabria because we represent the region. Today we are a point of reference for the entire national transplant network. It must be remembered that from Rome on down, the one in Reggio Calabria was the first center where CAR T therapies were provided in June 2020. Ours is a structure where around 200 transplants are carried out per year and therefore we are truly a reference . All this is also recognized by the other structures because at the moment, in addition to being director of hematology at the transplant center in Reggio Calabria, I carry out the role of President of the Italian bone marrow transplant group and therefore I am the one who coordinates the activities of over 80 centers spread throughout the Italian panorama. It’s a source of effort for me, but I think it’s also a source of pride for our Calabria.” There is no doubt that this is so. ([email protected])
Corriere della Calabria is also on WhatsApp. Enough click here to subscribe to the channel and always be updated
