The treatment takes a patient’s immune cells, engineers them to attack disease-causing cells, and returns them to the body. Lynn Montgomery-Haga received the therapy in 2024 after relying on a walker or wheelchair. Her neurologist, Amanda Piquet of the University of Colorado Anschutz, says her mobility improved; Montgomery-Haga says she has not fallen since treatment and can again work in her yard. The reported benefit has lasted at least two years in her case.
CAR T therapies were first used against cancer. The source says that, if authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, this could become the first approved CAR T therapy for an autoimmune disease and the first approved treatment for stiff person syndrome.
The report does not establish a cure, long-term safety, or effectiveness across a larger population. Researchers quoted by Science News say too few people have been treated to characterize side effects or durability.