A woman with MS has become the first person in the UK to receive CAR-T cell therapy in a clinical trial testing whether this personalised treatment may slow or even halt the progression of the condition.
There is no cure for MS, and while there are several treatments available to help manage symptoms or slow the progression of MS, none are fully effective in preventing relapses or the long-term progression of the condition. But with CAR-T cell therapy proven to be really effective in blood cancer patients, researchers are turning to testing the treatment in autoimmune conditions such as lupus and now MS.
MS is a condition that affects nerves in the central nervous system, i.e. the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the coating (myelin) that protects the nerves is damaged. This causes a range of symptoms like blurred vision and problems with movement, memory and thinking.
CAR-T cell therapy aims to reset the immune system by depleting B cells, which are thought to drive the autoimmune attack in MS. The therapy modifies the patient’s own T cells to target and eliminate B cells, potentially leading to long-term remission and halting disease progression.
For full details of this exciting research, please click here
There is also more information on the MS Trust website.
Source: University College London Hospitals
