Researchers welcome NHS roll out of cutting edge cancer treatment

NHS England's announcement that children and young people with leukaemia will receive a 'revolutionary' treatment has been welcomed by the UCL Cancer Institute, which has helped develop the therapy. As part of a commercial deal between NHS England and manufacturer Novartis, young patients with a form of leukaemia, called B-cell acute leukaemia, are set to receive CAR T (a chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) therapy within weeks. This move comes less than 10 days after the treatment was granted its European marketing authorisation, which represents one of the fastest funding approvals in the 70 year history of the NHS. The Tisagenlecleucel form of CAR T, also known as Kymriah, is the first in a wave of treatments in a new era of cellular therapies. Unlike conventional cancer treatments, CAR T-cell therapy is specifically manufactured for each individual patient and involves reprogramming the patient's own immune system cells, which are then used to target their cancer. It has been shown in trials to cure some patients, even those with advanced cancers where other treatments have failed. UCL has a growing CAR T-cell programme based at the UCL Cancer Institute, which includes expertise, ranging from protein and T-cell engineering through to clinical grade cell manufacture.