Revolutionary Car-T cell therapy: Hope for autoimmun patients!

Revolutionary Car-T cell therapy: Hope for autoimmun patients!

Erlangen, Deutschland - Researchers of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-nürnberg (FAU) and the uniquely Erlangen Autoimmune diseases developed. In a 45-year-old patient with antisynthetase syndrome, a double car-t cell therapy was used for the first time in a 45-year-old patient, which shows remarkable success. The patient has been symptom -free for over nine months and does not need any medication.

Antisynthetase syndrome is a serious autoimmune disease, in which B cells, a kind of immune cells attack healthy body structures. This leads to pain and inflammation in muscles, lungs and joints. The initiating therapy was based on a CD19 car-t cell treatment, which aims to eliminate the overactive B cells. Despite an initial success, however, there were relapses after nine months, since the patient's immune system went against the modified T cells.

innovative double therapy

BCMA-Car-T cells were used as part of the second therapy. These aim at plasma cells that generate harmful antibodies. This innovative approach led to a significant improvement in the patient's symptoms: the plasma cells were destroyed and the amount of antibodies caused by the disease decreased. The application of these two different Car-T cell types represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and could offer new hope for patients in which conventional therapies have failed.

The results of this groundbreaking therapy were published in the renowned journal Nature Medicine . According to NZZ show the first therapy attempts with car-t cells in total a high success rate. However, the patients treated so far are still low in the number of research and development in this area.

The way to therapy

An example from the past few years is a 35-year-old man who received a Car-T-Zell infusion in July 2024 and is now also symptom-free. The case was documented in the journal The Lancet . According to estimates, between 100 and 200 patients have so far been treated with these therapy approaches that were originally developed to combat blood cancer.

The use of car-T cells against autoimmune diseases is promising because overactive B cells play a leading role in these diseases. Car-T cells are specifically eliminate these cells and could enable an immunological restart, according to the analyzes of Tagesschau .

Nevertheless, there are challenges such as the high costs of car-t cell therapy, which can be in six-digit amounts. The therapy also carries risks, including cytokin storm and possible brain inflammation. However, serious side effects are rather rare for autoimmun patients. Current studies, especially in China, try to further examine and confirm the effectiveness of these therapies.

Overall, progress is promising-the development of car-t cells as a new form of treatment against autoimmune diseases could be a significant step in immune medicine.