The Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center has successfully implemented an innovative treatment using genetically modified immune cells known as CAR-T for a patient suffering from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).
This new medical procedure marks a significant turning point in cellular therapies in the Middle East, providing renewed hope for lupus patients. SLE is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack healthy tissues, leading to inflammation, pain, and affecting various organs, including the skin, joints, lungs, heart, and kidneys. The global prevalence of SLE is approximately 43.7 per 100,000 individuals.
The 60-year-old patient had been diagnosed with lupus over a decade ago and had undergone numerous treatments, relying on daily medications that resulted in significant side effects. Despite these treatments, her condition worsened, leading to frequent hospitalizations due to severe drops in red blood cells and platelets.
In this innovative lupus treatment, the patient's defensive immune cells were extracted following a specific protocol, genetically modified, and allowed to proliferate in a controlled laboratory environment at the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center, one of the few labs in the Middle East equipped for such therapies. This process targeted and destroyed the cells responsible for the autoimmune attacks.
After reinjecting these modified cells intravenously, the patient's disease activity ceased, and her immune system was reset. The treatment lasted five weeks at Yas Clinic, part of the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center.
Professor Yendry Ventura, CEO of the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center and lead researcher on the project, stated that this achievement represents a fundamental shift in the treatment of autoimmune diseases.
Dr. Fatima Al Kaabi, Executive Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at the center, emphasized that this qualitative advancement in treatment using CAR-T modified immune cells offers renewed hope for lupus patients. The Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center has consistently been at the forefront of new and advanced developments in the medical and regenerative medicine fields.