Ground-breaking CAR T-cell therapy will be given to children with cancer in the NHS for the first time, NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has announced.
UCLH has the largest set of clinical trials of CAR T-cell therapy in Europe, and children with leukaemia will receive the treatment after the NHS agreed a deal with the manufacturer Novartis.
CAR T, a form of personalised treatment for patients who do not respond to standard anti-cancer treatments like chemotherapy, has been shown in trials to cure some patients with cancer, even those with advanced cancers.
The first patients should be treated within weeks.
In CAR T-cell therapy, T cells are isolated from a patient’s body, reprogrammed in the laboratory so they can identify and attack tumour cells, and then infused into the patient’s blood.
UCLH consultant haematologist Professor Emma Morris, speaking about the treatment on BBC Breakfast, said the therapy represents ‘a real step change in how we treat cancers.’
‘The new treatment uses the body’s own immune system and allows immune cells to fight the cancer cells and kill them. It’s a real living medicine,’ Professor Morris said.
The treatment is part of the NHS’s long term plan to upgrade cancer services. NHS England said it is the first in what is expected to be a rapidly expanding class of personalised cancer therapies available on the NHS.
