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Revolutionary therapy: CAR-T cells offer new hope against autoimmune diseases!
Researchers at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg are treating autoimmune diseases in a pioneering way with dual CAR T-cell therapies, and initial successes have been reported.
Revolutionary therapy: CAR-T cells offer new hope against autoimmune diseases!
Researchers at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) and the Erlangen University Hospital have developed a groundbreaking therapy for autoimmune diseases. In a global first, an autoimmune disease is being treated for the first time with two different CAR T-cell therapies, which is considered a paradigm shift in therapy. A notable case concerns a 45-year-old patient with antisynthetase syndrome who has been symptom-free for over nine months after treatment and is not dependent on any medication. The results of this innovative therapy were published in the journal Nature Medicine FAU reports.
Antisynthetase syndrome is an autoimmune disease that causes severe inflammation in muscles, lungs and joints by B cells attacking healthy structures. The treatment success began with a CD19 CAR T cell treatment, in which the patient's T cells were harvested, genetically reprogrammed and then returned to eliminate the overactive B cells. But after initial success, the symptoms returned after nine months as the immune system attacked the modified T cells.
Innovative approaches to therapy
The second therapy then came to the fore: BCMA-CAR-T cells, which specifically attack plasma cells. This led to a significant improvement in the patient's health as the plasma cells were destroyed and the amount of harmful antibodies was reduced. This combination therapy marks a new approach in the treatment of autoimmune diseases where conventional therapies often fail. Loud NZZ Initial therapy attempts with CAR T cells show a high success rate, even if the number of patients treated is low so far.
For example, a 35-year-old man with severe autoimmune disease who received a CAR T-cell infusion in July 2024 after several treatment attempts experienced a complete recovery. This case was also documented in the specialist journal “The Lancet”. It is estimated that around 100 to 200 patients worldwide have been treated with CAR T cells, raising hopes for further success and making the treatment a promising alternative.
The challenges and opportunities
CAR-T cells were originally developed to combat blood cancer and are now increasingly being researched for autoimmune diseases. These diseases have no cure and their causes are complex and not fully understood, but include genetic and environmental factors. Standard treatments suppress the immune system and can cause significant side effects. An approach that eliminates overactive B cells could provide an immunological reset, like daily news reported.
Still, there are risks, such as cytokine storm or possible brain inflammation. However, serious side effects are rare in autoimmune patients. Current studies of CAR T-cell therapies are ongoing worldwide, particularly in China, where promising results have been achieved. In addition to the individual production of CAR-T cells from the patient's own T cells, there are also innovative approaches in which CAR-T cells are produced from healthy donor cells.
This method could reduce manufacturing costs in the future as it enables standardized production and could potentially enable hundreds of therapies. However, the challenge remains to verify the safety and effectiveness of these approaches in the long term and to minimize possible rejection reactions. Overall, CAR T-cell therapy offers new hope for patients with autoimmune diseases that do not respond to conventional treatments.