Using one method of treating cancer, a small study showed that people with lupus go into remission, so they can stop their usual treatment in just three months.
The results have been hailed as a revolutionary advance in the treatment of lupus, a debilitating, lifelong disease that affects 5 million people worldwide, and the results even bear the hallmarks of a potential cure.
Two studies, the first published in Germanyand the second in the UK with patients with the most severe form of the disease, refractory systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), saw patients receive CAR T cell therapy, which genetically modifies the patient’s own immune cells . ex vivo.
They are then reinjected into the patient with an important mission in their genetic code. In almost every use case for CAR T cell therapy, it involves targeting cancer cells that use signaling molecules to evade detection by the immune system. But in this case, it was used to target the faulty biological equipment causing the disease.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease, meaning that a patient’s genetic defects cause their immune system to target normal, healthy cells. Lupus is driven by a particular type of immune cell called a B cell, and the treatment targets T cells with orders to attack B cells carrying the defect.
In the German study conducted in 2022, all five patients experienced depletion of B cells, which eventually returned through normal cell replenishment in the bloodstream, but without return of lupus symptoms.
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“We always knew that, in principle, CAR T therapies could have broad applications, and it is very encouraging to see early evidence that this promise is now being realized,” said Dr. Carl June at the ‘era ; professor of medicine at Penn State University and director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, who was not involved in the study.
Recently, the same trial was replicated with three patients in the United Kingdom, including a 32-year-old man and a 50-year-old who had been living with lupus for 30 years.
Patients will be monitored for 15 years as a follow-up to examine long-term effects. As it stands, the short-term effects concern a significant weakening of the immune system, and/or hyperactivity of the immune system.
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Lupus, especially SLE, involves inflammation of internal organs, joint pain, acute swelling, and other effects that many patients would consider far worse than the long-term side effects of treatment.
“Lupus is a disease that requires lifelong medication, but this therapy has the potential to change that, which is incredibly exciting. This revolutionary new therapy marks an important milestone in our lupus research,” said Professor Ben Parker, consultant rheumatologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, where the procedure was partly carried out.
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