London: British scientists claim to have developed one-off treatment which could potentially help cure rheumatoid arthritis.
The crippling joint disease is triggered by attacks from the body`s own defences.
Research team hopes that the drug, called otelixizumab, will turn off this response by the immune system, placing the patient into remission for years and potentially forever.
The trials are due to start next month and, if successful, the drug could be available to patients within a decade.
"The theory is that treatments like this can switch off the disease," telegraph.co.uk quoted Prof John Isaacs, professor of clinical rheumatology at Newcastle, as saying.
"There is the potential that this switch off could last forever. Perhaps this would only be in patients who we treat at the early stage of the disease.
"However, the chance of this happening in patients who have had the disease for a while is not altogether absent," he added.
The drug targets T-cells, white blood cells which control the body`s natural defences. These cells are believed to send signals to other cells in the body to attack the joints.
If these signals can be "switched off", doctors can potentially halt the disease at its source.
IANS