Advancing MSC therapy: The next generation of potent mesenchymal stromal cells for systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases

Abstract

Fields that deal with systemic autoimmune diseases such as rheumatology, gastroenterology, and endocrinology have adopted the principles of immune modulation, including shifting immune activation sates, from advances originally developed in oncology. Most clinical trials to date have demonstrated efficacy of cell therapies primarily in in hematologic and solid tumors, largely driven by chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells. In contrast, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) have shown limited success in oncology applications.

In this article we review the most recent clinical trials involving MSCs and their promising results for patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases that have failed to respond to standard of care (SOC) therapies.