This could be the most important news of 2021. Recently, researchers have been able to use genetically tweaked immune system cells to combat Lupus. Thanks to this, they send into remission a particular woman’s severe Lupus. This treatment, also knowns as CAR T-cell therapy, has been already proved against other cases.
The treatment isn’t invasive and can be done with the patient own cells. In other words, we are a step further to finally cure cancer, or at least, some types of cancer. This also means that the treatments will be safe, as the body won’t reject anything that comes from itself.
How is the treatment done?
According to the US News, the process consists of the removal of the patient’s immune system T-cells. Then, the cells are genetically altering, in order to make them target cancer. Finally, after all of this process, the cells are infused back to the patient to fight their sickness independently.
Researchers were able to test the cell therapy on a 20-year-old woman that already had severed Lupus. In case you don’t know, Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can even cause organ damage. Some famous, like Selena Gomez, has this disease and contributed to speaking about it and its effects.
What do we know about CAR T-cell immunotherapy?
Right now, the woman we mentioned before is the first patient to be treated with CAR T-cells. Thanks to this approach, the researchers sent the disease directly into remission with no significant side effects. In other words, thanks to this, they almost cure a once-believe impossible to cure illness.
Even though this is a fantastic advance, there is much more research to be done before the therapy could become available. This initial report is a piece of good news; however, this is a “treatment that makes a lot of sense”. This is according to Dr Donald Thomas, the known author of “The Lupus Encyclopedia”.
