Living with type 1 diabetes often means a life dictated by routine: careful monitoring of food intake, regular insulin injections, and constant glucose level checks.
However, groundbreaking research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), may herald a significant shift in how the disease is managed.
Researchers are looking into the expansion of two recently approved immunotherapy treatments to treat type 1 diabetes on a broader scale.
Cancer Therapy to Treat Diabetes
At the UCSF Diabetes Center, researchers are closely examining how oncologists use chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy to reprogram the immune system to combat cancer.
“It turns out the switches that researchers are playing with in cancer are the same ones useful in diabetes,” says Mark Anderson, MD, Ph.D., and director of the UCSF Diabetes Center.
The idea is to use a similar approach to modify the immune system so it stops attacking the body’s insulin-producing cells, thereby halting or delaying the onset of type 1 diabetes.
Collaboration Across Specialties
The collaborative environment at UCSF’s new Parnassus Research and Academic Building aims to break traditional academic silos.
There, researchers from various specialties will work together to understand disease mechanisms at the cellular level. Anderson envisions a synergistic effort:
“Imagine someone is in a trial and receiving a cancer drug, and it leads to type 1 diabetes. Our lab will be right there, and we can measure their immune cells to try to see what’s happening.”
Breakthrough Drug: Teplizumab
Teplizumab, a drug approved by the FDA in late 2022, aims to prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes by deactivating the immune cells that attack insulin-producing beta cells.
Current research is exploring its use not only in those at risk but also in those recently diagnosed.
Stephen Gitelman, MD, is leading a multi-institution study to investigate whether teplizumab can be used within two months of diagnosis to help preserve remaining insulin-producing cells.
“The participants are doing very well,” Gitelman reports, adding that it’s the “end of the beginning” for type 1 diabetes research.
What Lies Ahead
The approval of teplizumab is a landmark moment but also opens up several new avenues for exploration.
Researchers are pondering its use in younger children, as well as the possibility of pairing it with other drugs. As Gitelman points out, “It’s early days and an exciting time.”
Conclusion
The exploration of immunotherapy treatments presents an opportunity to revolutionize the way type 1 diabetes is managed.
While the journey is far from over, these advancements mark significant steps toward reducing the daily burden for those living with this chronic condition.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about new way to achieve type 2 diabetes remission, and one avocado a day keeps diabetes at bay.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies about 5 dangerous signs you have diabetes-related eye disease, and results showing why pomegranate is super fruit for people with diabetes.
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