CAR T cells built inside the body ease multiple sclerosis

Conventional CAR-T therapy takes a patient’s T cells out of the body, engineers them in a laboratory, and puts them back. A team led by Dai-Shi Tian, a neurologist at Tongji Medical College at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, reported on 3 September 2026 that it had skipped that step entirely, injecting a lentivirus that carries the genetic instructions for a chimeric antigen receptor and letting the receptors be built inside the patient. The vector was designed with Shenzhen Genocury Biotech.

Sixteen people took part, with multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions — diseases attacking muscle, and diseases in which the immune system attacks the brain, spinal cord and eyes. CAR T cell numbers rose over time, and B cells and autoantibodies were depleted. The multiple sclerosis patients showed improved motor and cognitive function and less fatigue; others gained muscle strength scores and showed reduced inflammation. The work appeared as a correspondence in the New England Journal of Medicine (Cheng et al., 395, 926-929).

Tian put the limit plainly: the responses are “promising signals, but they are not yet definitive evidence of efficacy or permanent restoration of immune tolerance.” Sixteen patients is a proof of concept, not a controlled trial.