A genetic therapy that’s already revolutionized cancer treatment has now sent five patients of lupus into remission, allowing one to fulfill her dreams of skiing.

The uncurable autoimmune disorder lupus affects 1.5 million Americans, but a trial of CAR T-cell therapy for lupus recently concluded in the UK shows that the disease’s permanence may be at an end.

GNN has reported over a dozen times on the use of CAR T-cell therapy, a Nobel Prize-winning discovery that leverages human white blood cells for cancer targeting.

The white cells are withdrawn from the patient’s blood before receiving modified genetic coding that reprograms them to hunt malignancies. That new programing spreads to the rest of the immune system, and the patient’s own body becomes capable of destroying their cancer.

Cancers are mostly protected from human immunity because of a sort of invisibility cloak that convinces the immune cells like T lymphocytes (the T in CAR T-cell) that they are perfectly normal cells.

In complete contrast but with a similar outcome lupus, like other autoimmune disorders, sees the immune system identifying normal healthy cells as malignant intruders and targeting them for destruction. In the case of lupus it’s the kidneys, and sometimes other organs.

9 patients at University College London Hospital (UCLH) were treated for lupus nephritis, a life-threatening lupus-related condition that can result in debilitating fatigue, inflammation, joint pain, and organ failure. 5 went into a sort of lupus remission, including one named Katie Tinkler, who since recovering has fulfilled a dream of going Alpine skiing for the very first time, and was able to dance at her daughter’s wedding too.

Among the treatment group, 6 patients received a lower dose of CAR T-cell therapy, and 3 got a higher dose. 5 of those on the lower dose went into remission within just 3 months, and stayed there over the study’s 11 month follow-up period.

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The higher-dose patients are still being monitored.

“These findings are truly groundbreaking and offer fresh hope to people living with lupus,” said Professor Karl Peggs, the director of UCLH’s biomedical research center, in a news release. “If these results are confirmed in larger studies, the prospect of a cure for lupus may no longer be out of reach.”

“While more research is needed, the possibility that CAR T-cell therapy could deliver an immune reset and potentially free patients from the cycle of chronic autoimmune disease marks a remarkable step forward.”

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The Guardian heard from Tinkler, who said that her lungs, heart, and kidneys were all deteriorating, and the lupus remission is lifechanging.

“My life two years ago versus now, it’s unrecognizable. I feel blessed.”

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