Early insights into patient selection and treatment timing for CAR T-cell therapy in MS
Jeffrey Dunn, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, shares insights from the Phase I trial (NCT06138132) investigating CAR T-cell therapy in multiple sclerosis (MS), focusing on which patients may derive the greatest benefit and the optimal timing for treatment. Prof. Dunn explains that the trial enrolled patients with progressive MS, while emerging evidence suggests that CAR T-cell therapy may also show promise when used earlier in the disease course. This interview took place at the 8th International Workshop on CAR-T and Bispecifics 2026, in Tampa, FL.
These works are owned by Magdalen Medical Publishing (MMP) and are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All rights are reserved.
Transcript
So we began treating patients who had progressive MS who were getting worse despite the use of FDA-approved therapy. So this is when MS, it can become a neurodegenerative syndrome. This is where patients begin to feel like they’re losing ground, that they’re getting disconnected from their families, that they’re not able to do all the things that they want to do. They’re struggling at work or maybe have even had to step away from work...
So we began treating patients who had progressive MS who were getting worse despite the use of FDA-approved therapy. So this is when MS, it can become a neurodegenerative syndrome. This is where patients begin to feel like they’re losing ground, that they’re getting disconnected from their families, that they’re not able to do all the things that they want to do. They’re struggling at work or maybe have even had to step away from work. So these are progressive patients often who have no relapses. There’s an acronym that’s been applied to this called PIRA. You may have heard of that or it may be discussed by others called progression independent of relapse activity. This is an underserved part of the MS spectrum, and this is where we started our therapy. The patients that we’ve treated with CAR-T therapy to date have had this kind of phenotype, a progressive disease without relapses, and their therapies prescribed by their doctors haven’t helped them. They haven’t stopped the disease progression. We began with that group, and as I referred to earlier, we’ve seen very promising results in which we’ve been able to not just slow the disease progress, but have even been able to reverse it, again, in limited numbers. When we begin to think about the mechanisms, the underlying immunopathology, what’s driving the MS process, we think there may be a case to be made that CAR-T therapy may actually be also very effective when used earlier in the course of the disease. Where that line is going to be drawn is to be determined. But I hope as clinical trials expand, and they most certainly are going to, we may be able to treat MS patients earlier and earlier in their disease course. And if it’s true that CAR-T therapy may be getting at eradication of what’s driving the disease, it would make all the sense in the world to suggest that this kind of therapy, depending on risk-benefit profiles and balances, this kind of therapy should be considered earlier in the course of the disease as well.
This transcript is AI-generated. While we strive for accuracy, please verify this copy with the video.
Read more...
