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CAR T cell therapies raise hopes — and questions — for lupus and autoimmune disease
A pack of CAR T cell therapies are now in trials in systemic lupus erythematosus, as the race begins to prove the potential of autologous cell therapies in autoimmune diseases.
It can take years for patients to learn about up-and-coming therapeutics. But as soon as researchers published the first clinical findings from a tiny phase I trial of an engineered cell therapy in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in October 2022, the community took note. “The day that first study came out, I was getting emails from physicians about patients who were wondering whether we could do this right now,” recalls Mary Crow, a rheumatologist at Hospital for Special Surgery, who was not involved in the study. With preliminary data from five patients hinting at the possibility of prolonged drug-free remissions, “there was a lot of enthusiasm,” she recalls.