A small but closely watched clinical trial has found that a type of immune cell therapy may help patients with hard-to-treat autoimmune conditions affecting the brain and nervous system.
The New England Journal of Medicine posted findings from a trial of 16 patients with refractory neurologic autoimmune disorders — that is, conditions where the immune system attacks the brain or nerves and has not responded to standard treatments. According to the journal, the therapy used was lentiviral CD19 CAR T-cell treatment, a technique that involves taking a patient’s own immune cells, genetically modifying them in a laboratory to target a specific protein called CD19, and then returning them to the body to suppress the misfiring immune response.
Across the different disease groups in the trial, the therapy was associated with complete depletion of B-cells — the immune cells that carry the CD19 protein and are thought to drive these conditions — as well as preliminary clinical improvement. Side effects were described by the journal as manageable.
This is early-stage data from 16 people. That’s a small number, and the journal’s own language is cautious — “preliminary” and “associated with” rather than proof of cure or causation.
CAR T-cell therapy is already licensed in the UK for certain blood cancers, but its use in neurological autoimmune conditions remains experimental. The NHS does not currently offer it as a standard treatment for these disorders. Patients in Kent with autoimmune neurological conditions who are concerned about their care should speak to their specialist or GP in the first instance, or contact NHS 111 for general guidance.
## Full trial results
The New England Journal of Medicine has published the complete trial data. Anyone seeking further detail should ask their neurologist or specialist team, who can access and interpret the clinical findings in an individual patient’s situation.
- NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day for non-emergency health queries
- For urgent neurological symptoms, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E
Source: @NEJM