Increase the length of human life. It is the achievement pursued by the innovative therapy developed by a group of scientists from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, in New York, in which the Spanish immunologist, Corina Lovewho in an interview granted to ‘The country‘, explained the bases of this proposal that he already presented in his doctoral thesis.
A therapy that would seek the elimination of the senescent cellswhat are the responsible for aging and cancer. These cells are destroyed by the defenses of the human body, although the immune system is not able to eliminate them in old age. To do this, the experts tested the modification of T lymphocytes, also known as CART-T. The experiment carried out with mice ended with these results.
“We’ve seen some increase in lifespan. For example, at the metabolic level, these mice have much better glucose tolerance“, the scientist told the aforementioned media about the tests carried out with genetically modified rodents. In the same way, she pointed out the possibility of an increase in the quality of life at a much later age and considered “reasonable” the possibility of extending the duration of the human life
“I think that extending the duration to 120 or 130 years is a reasonable thing“, he expressed in this regard. Precisely, the modification of T lymphocytes has already been carried out in some lymphomas and leukemias. According to Amor, trials were also carried out with drugs for humans, such as dasatiniba medicine marketed under the name Sprycel and intended for the treatment of different types of cancer.
Besides, mentioned that it is a “very expensive” process and ruled on the possibility that it could be extended to the entire population. “The grail that everyone is looking for is to get a standard treatment, but it is difficult.”
Possible cancer treatment
However, the therapy developed by this group of scientists could be used for other purposes if its application is successful in humans. In this case, Corina Amor detailed what diseases could be applied to. “It would be applied for different chronic diseases, such as pulmonary or hepatic fibrosis“.
The laboratory in which the Spanish immunologist works is also working so that it can be applied to cancer patients, once it has already been tested with rodents with lung cancer. “We have used it as therapy, by inducing senescence in tumor cells and then giving CAR-T,” he said.
Life expectancy in Spain is 83.3 years
According to the latest data provided by the Statistics National Institute (INE)life expectancy in Spain in 2021 was 83.3 years, a figure slightly lower than that registered in 2019, which was 83.58 years, and higher than that registered in 2020, which was 82.34 years.
An indicator that, according to the INE, is used to “make comparisons on the incidence of mortality in different populations” depending on the health conditions and level of development of the analyzed territories.On the other hand, according to estimates made by the INElife expectancy would reach 83.2 years in men and 87.7 in women in the year 2035.