A promising new drug for the disease lupus reverses dramatically now shows the side of the disease that had patients respond to it already and has been administered to patients in the UK as part of an ongoing European clinical trial. The CAR T-cell therapy is the name of this treatment; it has already shown good results in Europe since the former patients with severe improvements in their symptoms were reported.
Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease, meaning that the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues. It provokes very debilitating symptoms, such as joint pain, skin rashes, and extreme fatigue. No matter how much research has been done up to this point, it still does not appear that the actual cause of lupus has been determined, which leaves no cure. Patients generally go on to take medication for the rest of their lives to monitor flare-ups and symptomatically deal with the disease.
Three UK patients have been treated with CAR T-cell therapy – an advanced form of immunotherapy in which a patient’s T-cells are genetically modified to fight the disease – in the latest stage of a treatment trial. The whole aim is to eliminate those harmful immune cells causing the disease. The treatment is supposed to reduce reliance on the intake of continuous medication, and in some cases, hopefully, to allow patients to live long-term remission.
Dr Ben Parker, a consultant rheumatologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, leading the study said that he was hopeful about the therapy. “We are pleased to be the first in the UK to offer this pioneering research,” he said.
This CAR T-cell therapy is now proposed as an autoimmune disease treatment, such as lupus. The results were nothing short of extraordinary when first clinically used. Several patients treated for this disease were in remission for months after stopping their medication; others have stayed off medication longer than one year.
This big hope for us autoimmune disease patients is what Katie Tinkler, a fitness instructor from the United Kingdom who suffers from lupus for years, expresses. She said, “This is a big hope for us autoimmune disease patients.” Now that researchers continue with this trial, hope lives that CAR T-cell treatment might be the new savior for lupus patients, bringing life to their lives.
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