Cell Therapy Triumphs in Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis
A clinical trial at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin has successfully used CAR T-cell therapy to treat patients with severe, treatment-refractory rheumatoid arthritis. All participants showed significant improvement, with some achieving drug-free remission.
Why it matters
This represents a potential breakthrough in autoimmune disease treatment, moving beyond symptom management to potentially curative therapies.
Immunotherapies such as CAR T-cell therapy are used primarily to treat cancer. In the future, these patient-specific therapies, manufactured from patients' own immune cells, could also help cure autoimmune diseases. Six patients with particularly severe rheumatoid arthritis have now received this treatment at Charit - Universit tsmedizin Berlin. In the journal Nature Medicine*, the researchers report the results from the world's first clinical trial of its kind: Disease activity decreased substantially in all participants. By the end of the observation period, three of the patients no longer required any medication for rheumatoid arthritis.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in