Remarkably, none of the therapy-treated patients required a transplant during the study, whereas several in the standard-care group did.

The trial reported no serious adverse side effects associated with the therapy during the study period.

Across groups, eight deaths and no liver transplants occurred in the macrophage-treated cohort, compared with nine deaths and five transplants in standard care.

No serious side effects were reported during the four-year follow-up, indicating a favorable safety profile for macrophage therapy.

In the trial, the macrophage-treated group had eight deaths and no liver transplants, while the standard-care group had nine deaths and five transplants, suggesting both efficacy and safety signals.

Long-term follow-up found no serious adverse effects linked to macrophyte? macrophage infusion, supporting tolerability and suggesting durable biological effects beyond short-term gains.

The therapy was developed by Professor Stuart Forbes and collaborators at the University of Edinburgh, SNBTS, and Resolution Therapeutics, with RTX001 in development and its Emerald trial ongoing.

Experts and patient advocates, including Professor Forbes and Pamela Healy of the British Liver Trust, stress the approach’s potential to reduce reliance on donor organs and offer real hope for people with cirrhosis.

A pioneering cell therapy using patient-derived macrophages shows promise as an alternative to liver transplant for advanced liver disease, based on results from the Match clinical trial.

Notably, the treated group had zero transplantations and eight deaths versus five transplants and nine deaths in the control group, indicating potential clinical benefit and a favorable safety profile.

The study reflects ongoing collaborations across Scotland and beyond to advance this therapeutic approach.

The research underscores the urgent need for alternatives to donor organs given late-stage cirrhosis diagnoses and organ shortages contributing to UK mortality.