Women who received CAR T cell therapy for autoimmune diseases such as lupus have gone on to have healthy pregnancies and newborns, according to the largest study yet of pregnancy after the treatment, published July 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The team, led by immunologist Georg Schett of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany, tracked women from Germany, Belgium, China, Switzerland, France and the U.S. who gave birth in 2025 and 2026. Of the cohort, seven women had healthy newborns and five more were experiencing regular pregnancies as of late May.
None of the women relapsed during pregnancy. The seven newborns had normal birth weights, no infections at birth, and immune protein levels matching healthy newborns; tests on five found expected immune cell counts. Women became pregnant naturally anywhere from one month to three and a half years after treatment.
CAR T therapy — which engineers T cells to destroy the B cells attacking the body — was pioneered against cancer, but few pregnancy reports exist because patients are often older or on toxic drugs. Its growing use against autoimmune disease raises new questions about fertility and long-term health, which this study begins to answer.
Sources
- sciencenews.orgHealthy pregnancies and newborns are possible after CAR T cell therapy — Science News
- nejm.orgPregnancies in patients with autoimmune disease receiving CAR T-cell therapy — New England Journal of Medicine
- medicalxpress.comCAR T-cell treatment may enable healthy pregnancies — Medical Xpress
