The center uses approved medications within the scope of their authorization: CAR-T cell therapies and T-cell engagers, and—starting in the fall of 2026—gene therapy for beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease. The majority of these treatments are provided to patients with cancers of the blood and lymphatic system: leukemias, lymphomas, and multiple myeloma.

Since 2019, we at the Munich Center for Cell and Gene Therapy have been treating patients with CAR-T cells and now use all products of this type that are approved in Europe. To date, more than 300 patients have received CAR-T cell therapy at our center for leukemias, lymphomas, and multiple myeloma. We also have all approved T-cell engagers available, and their use at our center extends beyond hematology to include solid tumors such as small-cell lung cancer. In the fall of 2026, gene therapy for beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease will be added.

This approved range forms the foundation. In addition, we utilize cell and gene therapies that are still in clinical development.

When approved therapies are ineffective, we continue to develop the treatment. Our goal is to treat as many patients as possible through clinical trials so that each treatment yields reliable knowledge. Where this is not possible, we use approved medications off-label in justified individual cases, such as for certain types of lymphoma as well as for severe autoimmune diseases. We have published several of these pioneering applications in collaboration with our colleagues, including treatments for systemic sclerosis, antiphospholipid syndrome, and immune thrombocytopenia. In this way, an individual case becomes the starting point for the next study.

Clinical trials form the core of our work, with a focus on early-phase I and II trials. What began in hematology and oncology has now expanded to other specialties, such as rheumatology, neurology/neuroimmunology, and dermatology. The Early Clinical Trials Unit (ECTU) Tumor Board is open to referring patients to early-phase trials, including patients from outside our institution.