Israeli medics have made a world-first clinical breakthrough by using blood cancer treatment to fight Alzheimer's in mice.
Researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science, in partnership with the Washington University School of Medicine, found that Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T cell) therapy was effective in slowing the degenerative condition.
The technique is generally used as a form of immunotherapy to fight blood cancers.
Pioneered by Israeli scientist Zelig Eshhar around 30 years ago, the treatment works by modifying white blood cells to allow them to attack cancer cells before administering them into the patient's bloodstream via transfusion.
But the Weizmann team theorised that the principle could work in the same way to slow the progression of Alzheimer's.
While the cause of the disease remains unknown, one of the key symptoms is the increased presence of amyloid proteins in the brain, which impair neurological function.
The new study found that, by modifying CAR-T cells to attack these proteins, the therapy was successful in slowing the degeneration of brain function.
The technique is yet to be tested on humans for this particular application, though it is commonly used as a cancer treatment.
But the study found promising signs in trials using mice, and is hoping to push on towards human applications.
"It represents an exciting step toward finding novel therapies for Alzheimer’s and different neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [also known as Motor Neurone Disease] and Parkinson’s disease," Jonathan Kipnis, a member of the research team, told the Times of Israel.
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