This seems unsurprising? CAR-T is engineered to kill of CD19 expressing immune cells. I’m sure you could take b-cell depleting antibodies as well and have it push your autoimmune disease into remission. And they are already used to treat autoimmune diseases like MS, Crohn’s, etc. But depleting immune cells comes with a host of side effects. Risk of infection, even diseases that you’d otherwise easily fight off.
> But depleting immune cells comes with a host of side effects. Risk of infection, even diseases that you’d otherwise easily fight off
Some people with autoimmune disorders have to take immunosuppressors so they already have that risk of infection.
I have a young (30ish) friend with Rheumatoid Arthritis -luckily she doesn’t have many symptoms yet. I really really hope genetic therapy would bring a better quality of life in 10 or 20 years.
I was recently diagnosed with MS myself and put on some of the stronger medication from what I understand (Ocrevus) to make sure my future flares will not happen or at least be a less severe. Was the vision loss from one eye really all that sudden for you? I am noticing my left seems to feel different and act slightly different when I'm tired. For now I am assuming that eventually I might also lose this eye because o…
For me, it was! But honestly, it could have been weird before and I just didn't notice. I was in the shower and realized that I couldn't see my armpit to shave it. It did get better, though: I went to a specialist eye doctor when I started my medicine (gilenya) and he said it healed really well - he really couldn't tell there was ever an issue. If it makes you feel better, a lot of folks that do get optic neuritis fi…
I did tell my MS nurse (idk if that is a thing outside of the NL) she did seem to write it off. I do keep bringing it up everytime but it is a lot better than before. I had like a couple of weeks where I could barely look at a monitor without struggling to read anything. I'll just keep mentioning it during every checkup I will have.
I did read about the ON recovery for most so that does bring me some comfort but it still is a spooky thought.
I understand that is similar to any chemotherapy no? But your body will rebuild it after ˜30days.
Chemotherapy typically isn't churn-and-burn to that extent, no. I got CAR T-cell therapy after one complete line and a partial line of chemotherapy for Primary Mediastinal B-Cell Lymphoma, a form of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. My first line was DA-EPOCH-R, where DA means Dose-Adjusted and EPOCH-R is one letter for each of the specific drugs involved. The drugs are given in multiple 24-hour doses over five days wit…
Thanks for the detailed reply MSLA, and thanks for advanced medicine for you to be still with us!