CAR T-cell Enables Kidney Transplants

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have successfully used CAR T-cell therapy, originally for blood cancer, to enable kidney transplants in two highly sensitized patients with end-stage kidney disease. These patients, who had extremely high antibody levels (cPRA scores near 100%) and had waited years for a compatible donor, experienced dramatic reductions in harmful antibodies after receiving dual CAR T-cell therapy. This innovative approach, a collaboration with NYU Langone Health and Massachusetts General Hospital, targets and eliminates memory B cells and antibody-producing plasma cells, effectively 'resetting' the immune system. The Phase I clinical trial, whose findings were published in the The New England Journal of Medicine, showed minimal toxicity and no signs of organ rejection or antibody rebound in the transplanted patients, including Andrew Boyd>>>. This breakthrough offers hope for thousands of highly sensitized patients in the United States>>> and could transform organ transplant medicine.