"CAR-T-cell therapy exploits the immune system's T cells that fight off infection: these cells are collected from a person and tweaked to produce proteins called chimeric antigen receptors. They are then reintroduced into the body to target antigens expressed by B cells, another type of immune cell. In autoimmune disorders, these B cells make antibodies that attack the body's own healthy tissues."
"Phase III trials are also under way for lupus and myasthenia gravis, a condition that causes weakness in the muscles that are used to breathe, swallow and see. Simon, who focuses on rheumatoid arthritis at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, says people in CAR-T-cell therapy trials for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus seem to be 'cured'. "They lose their autoantibodies which trigger the disease, and they don't have any symptoms anymore," he adds. "This is something totally new which we didn't observe before.""
Engineered CAR-T cells are being applied to treat autoimmune diseases by harvesting a patient's T cells, engineering chimeric antigen receptors, and reintroducing them to target B-cell antigens. The therapy has shown positive results in about a dozen studies over three years for conditions including ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, systemic sclerosis, myositis, and myasthenia gravis. Early-phase trials (I and II) are underway for several disorders, and phase III trials have begun for lupus and myasthenia gravis. Some clinicians report patients losing autoantibodies and experiencing lasting remission, an outcome not previously observed with other treatments.
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