There is a review article in the October issue of the journal Rheumatology covering successful and improving treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, and scleroderma. The abstract is free and (available here).
About one third of the patients have gone into remission. The original 7% mortality rate has decreased to 0 - with no deaths due to the transplants of bone marrow stem cells in the last 3 years. Most of the patients receive their own bone marrow stem cells.
[M]ultipotent mesenchymal stromal cells obtained from the bone marrow and expanded ex vivo, may exert a clinically useful immunomodulatory effect. Such cells are immune privileged and apparently of low toxicity.
In other words, the stem cells taken from the bone marrow of the patients are encouraged to multiply outside the body and then they are transfused back into the patient (the procedure looks just like a blood transfusion) after chemotherapy or radiation to kill the patient's remaining bone marrow and immune system, including the cells in the lymph nodes. The cells that are put back in are the patient's own and are not rejected, but they are able to "reset" the immune system so that it does not attack the nerves, muscles, joints and organs any more. There is real hope that the patients are cured, rather than enjoying a limited remission.
The most likely reason is that the white blood cells in the body that are making antibodies and attacking the patient's body are killed. However, the cells that are immature, the stem cells, have not learned to make those antibodies or to attack the patient's body. So the patient starts with a fresh immune system. (They probably need all new immunizations for tetanus, measles and mumps, etc, too.)
Unfortunately, we don't understand why the body turns on itself in the first place, so we can't say that these patients are cured. Perhaps the tendency is there in the new immune system and will show up at a later date. There's also a worry that if the cause is a virus, the patient will become reinfected or that some of the virus was "hiding out" (that's my own term, not a scientific one) somewhere besides the bone marrow or lymph nodes of the patient and will become active again.
Still, a treatment that slows or lessens some of the pain and organ damage for these patients is worth persuing. The lessons we learn about the immune system as we monitor them is an added bonus.
(And no human embryos had to die for the treatments!)
There is information on the Phase III trial in Europe and Australia in patients with scleroderma at http://www.astistrial.com/ There's more information through a Google search for "autologous stem cell transplant Autoimmune Disease."
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