German researchers have developed an approach that uses CAR-T therapy — a treatment originally designed for cancer — to precisely destroy pathogenic immune cells that cause autoimmune diseases. The approach freed one patient from three such diseases simultaneously, according to a study published in the scientific journal Med.
To carry out the treatment, scientists extract some of a patient’s immune cells and reprogram them so they attack pathogenic B cells and other immune components that trigger autoimmune reactions.
One of the first recipients of this therapy was a 47-year-old woman suffering from three severe autoimmune diseases simultaneously: autoimmune hemolytic anemia, immune thrombocytopenia (Werlhof’s disease), and antiphospholipid syndrome. These conditions are all characterised by the patient’s immune system attacking various components of the blood and blood vessels, leading to spontaneous thrombosis, haemorrhaging and other life-threatening complications.
No existing therapy had helped the patient, prompting her to turn to researchers who offered her an experimental course of CAR-T therapy. In the study, scientists extracted T cells from the patient’s bloodstream, reprogrammed them, and made them attack all the pathogenic B cells in her body that were producing large amounts of the CD19 protein. Infusing several million such T cells into the patient led to a significant improvement in her condition within just two weeks.
In early April 2026, the Russian government expanded its state programme for free medical care, adding three personalised cancer treatments to the high-tech medical care section of the state guarantees programme. These include CAR-T therapy, treatment with personalised mRNA vaccines, and the peptide vaccine Oncopept.
