UK patients start promising lupus treatment in new trial

Three patients in the UK are part of a trial for a new treatment for the chronic disease lupus with the aim of reducing their need to take medication.

Lupus is an autoimmune disease for which there is no cure. It occurs when the immune system attacks the body’s healthy tissues.

It can cause symptoms such as joint pain, skin rashes, and fatigue. These symptoms can occur during flare-ups, but the exact causes behind the disease remain unknown.

The patients in the UK are the latest to join clinical trials for the new potential lupus treatment.

Known as Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy, it’s a type of immunotherapy where scientists modify the body’s cells in the hopes of reversing the disease and reducing the need for medication.

“We are delighted to be the first to deliver this fantastic research in the UK, which we hope will revolutionise treatment for patients with high-risk lupus, that could potentially lead to a cure for the disease,” Ben Parker, a consultant rheumatologist at the Kellgren Centre for Rheumatology and study lead at the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI), said in a statement.

“Lupus is a disease that requires life-long medication, but this therapy has the potential to change that, which is incredibly exciting”.

How does the new lupus treatment work?

CAR T-cell therapy has been used to treat some cancers and has shown potential in treating other diseases such as lupus.

The therapy involves genetically modifying the patient’s immune system cells so that they recognise and attack harmful ones.

This is done by taking the patient’s blood to isolate the T-cells, modifying the cells in the laboratory, and then infusing them back into the patient’s bloodstream.

“We have seen the effectiveness of CAR-T in cancer, particularly blood cancers, and hope we can replicate this in autoimmune diseases, starting with lupus,” Dr Maria Leandro, a consultant rheumatologist at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), said in a statement.

“Our early phase trial aims to recruit 12 people worldwide and we hope to replicate the results of a small German trial which showed an improvement in lupus patients treated with CAR-T cell therapy”.

Germany was one of the first European countries to test the therapy, with five severe lupus patients seeing a full remission within three months of undergoing the treatment and remaining medication-free a year later.

‘Beyond excited’

One of the recent patients to undergo the treatment in the UK is Katie Tinkler, a fitness instructor who had to leave her job due to side effects of her lupus.

“I was diagnosed with lupus when I was 20,” she told the PA news agency. “I started to get extreme joint pain and, in the first few years, that was my main symptom – like excruciating”.

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“It was very painful. My hands were so painful I couldn’t hold the steering wheel”.

Tinkler said she was “beyond excited” to receive the new treatment and wants it to give people with autoimmune disease hope “that something’s coming their way that will make a massive difference in their lives”.