Can Immunotherapy Treat Other Conditions?

Ongoing Clinical Trials

Ongoing clinical trials for immunotherapy can be helpful to individuals who have tried treatment methods that have been unsuccessful or ineffective. Clinical trials for individuals affected by type 1 diabetes are in progress to try and inhibit the immune system destruction of beta cells or cells that produce insulin. Clinical trials are also ongoing for methods that use a vaccine on individuals who are at a high risk of diabetes to signal the immune system to neutralize the interferon alpha protein that stimulates the production of immune components that attack the beta cells. Another clinical trial for immunotherapy to fight diabetes is trying to utilize a type of bacteria to signal lymphoid tissues to restore beta cell tolerance in affected individuals. Clinical trials are being conducted for autoimmune encephalitis patients to stop the immune cells from attacking healthy cells in the brain. In addition, an ongoing clinical trial is underway for individuals affected by myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease that results in widespread skeletal muscle weakness. The trial aims to stop the production of antibodies that target the neurotransmitter receptor sites.