Doctors at the German Center for Immunotherapy at the University Hospital Erlangen have succeeded for the first time in the world in successfully treating a patient with therapy-resistant, severe ulcerative colitis with CAR-T cell therapy. The results of the groundbreaking procedure were published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine .

The 21-year-old sufferer had been suffering from a highly active chronic inflammatory bowel disease for five years and no longer responded to conventional therapies, including biologics and JAK inhibitors. After treatment with genetically modified T lymphocytes, which specifically switch off malregulated B cells, the symptoms disappeared completely. Colonoscopies confirmed a complete healing of the mucous membrane, and body weight returned to normal.

CAR-T cells were originally developed for the treatment of cancer, especially malignant B-cell tumors. In this process, the patient’s own immune cells are genetically modified in the laboratory in such a way that they recognize the surface molecule CD19 on B lymphocytes and destroy them in a targeted manner. Recent studies now show that the technology can also be effective for autoimmune diseases. The decisive advantage is that the modified immune cells penetrate deep into inflamed tissue and permanently eliminate diseased cells before functional B cells grow back.

The CAR-T cells were manufactured under clean room conditions directly at the University Hospital Erlangen. The therapy was implemented in close cooperation between gastroenterology, hematology and oncology as well as rheumatology and immunology.

The world’s first successful use in an intestinal disease opens up new perspectives for patients who were previously considered to have exhausted all other forms of therapy. Specialists see this as an important breakthrough, but urge caution: It is an isolated case so far. Only further clinical studies will show whether the therapy is safe and which patient groups can benefit to a particular extent.

Original Paper:

CD19 CAR T-Cell Therapy in Multidrug-Resistant Ulcerative Colitis | New England Journal of Medicine

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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