Breakthrough in medicine: 21-year-old symptom-free after colitis therapy!

Breakthrough in medicine: 21-year-old symptom-free after colitis therapy!

On October 1, 2025, a groundbreaking success in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease was achieved. A team of doctors from the German Center for Immunotherapy at the University Hospital of Erlangen successfully treated a 21-year-old patient with therapy-resistant ulcerative colitis with CD19 CAR T cells. This innovative form of therapy could offer new hope for patients suffering from severe autoimmune diseases that were previously considered incurable.

The patient had suffered from highly active ulcerative colitis for five years. Despite intensive treatment, including biologics and JAK inhibitors, symptoms did not respond to conventional therapies. Her quality of life was massively impaired: she had to struggle with bloody diarrhea and severe abdominal pain, which severely restricted her everyday life and her ability to carry out her job and leisure activities.

Successful therapy and promising results

The results of the therapy were published in the renowned New England Journal of Medicine. After CAR T-cell therapy, the bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain completely disappeared. Colonoscopies confirmed complete healing of the inflamed intestinal lining and the patient achieved a healthy body weight, allowing her to return to a normal life.

In CAR T-cell therapy, T lymphocytes are genetically modified so that they recognize the surface molecule CD19, which is found in B lymphocytes. This technology, originally developed for the treatment of B-cell malignancies, is now also showing promising results in autoimmune diseases. The CAR-T cells infiltrate the inflamed tissue and deactivate the miscontrolled B cells and replace them with healthy cells.

The CAR-T cells were produced in a specialized cleanroom laboratory at Medical Clinic 5 at the University Hospital Erlangen. The treatment was made possible through interdisciplinary collaboration between various medical clinics. These results are promising, but the researchers emphasize that this is an isolated case. Further studies are needed to fully assess the safety and effectiveness of the therapy and to find out which patients can particularly benefit from this new form of treatment.

A new approach in the therapy of autoimmune diseases

The development and use of CAR-T cells continues. Because the inventors of CAR-T therapy have created a new variant. This improves the T cells in the body by equipping them with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR). This new treatment is based on mRNA technology made popular by the COVID vaccines and uses special lipid nanoparticles. The first tests on mice and monkeys have already been carried out successfully, and an initial clinical study has started.

The goal of these developments is to temporarily eliminate antibody-producing B cells to enable long-term control of autoimmune diseases. These advances could significantly expand the treatment spectrum in the future and pave the way for more effective therapy for diseases that were previously difficult to treat.

In view of the results so far, one thing is certain: CAR T-cell therapy could represent a turning point in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and give affected patients a new quality of life.