Insights from CTTACC: immune system reset by cellular therapies for chronic illness after trauma, infection, and burn

Background Aims

In this paper, we present a review of several selected talks presented at the CTTACC conference (Cellular Therapies in Trauma and Critical Care) held in Scottsdale, AZ in May 2023. This conference review highlights the potential for cellular therapies to “reset” the dysregulated immune response and restore physiologic functions to normal. Improvements in medical care systems and technology have increasingly saved lives after major traumatic events. However, many of these patients have complicated post-traumatic sequelae, ranging from short-term multi-organ failure to chronic critical illness.

Methods/Results

Patients with chronic critical illness have been found to have dysregulated immune responses. These abnormal and harmful immune responses persist for years after the initial insult and can potentially be mitigated by treatment with cellular therapies.

Conclusions

The sessions emphasized the need for more research and clinical trials with cellular therapies for the treatment of a multitude of chronic illnesses: post-trauma, radiation injury, COVID-19, burns, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other chronic infections.