Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterised by skin fibrosis together with a dysfunction of the immune system and vasculopathy. Until now, only a few accepted treatment options have existed for patients with progressive disease.1 A similar skin fibrosis is seen in graft-versus-host disease, an immunologically mediated disease in recipients of haematological stem cells.2 In graft-versus-host disease, targeting of CD25-positive lymphocytes with a monoclonal antibody (basiliximab) has been shown to reduce its syptoms and complications.3 CD25 is the cluster designation for the high-affinity interleukin-2 receptor expressed on T and B lymphocytes after their activation. Activated lymphocytes are also thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of SSc as patients have elevated serum interleukin-2 receptor levels and the levels correlate with mortality and disease duration.4 5 As we had already treated one rapidly progressive SSc patient refractory to other forms of treatment with the monoclonal antibody basiliximab,6 we started a …