The first leukaemia patient to receive a pioneering drug on the NHS describes the experience as ‘very sci-fi.’
WATCH: Oscar Murphy becomes the first leukemia patient to receive successful treatment
The first patient to receive successful treatment on the NHS for an aggressive form of leukaemia said it was “brilliant” and “very science fiction.”
Oscar Murphy, 28, was given a “survival drug” called CAR-T therapy for his blood cancer at Manchester Royal Infirmary.
BBC News was present on January 2, when Oscar received the first of two injections of his immune cells, which were genetically modified to recognise and target his cancer.
NHS England has agreed to fund immunotherapy at several centres across the country. We expect it to benefit around 50 NHS patients annually.
Oscar was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-cell ALL) in March 2025.
He underwent chemotherapy and a donor stem cell transplant in July but was told in November that his cancer had returned.
“The leukaemia I have is very fast,” said the car salesman from Bury. “Stopping this requires an even faster response. And we now have the answer.”
In one clinical trial, 77% of patients went into remission After treatment, half of them showed no signs of cancer after three and a half years.
The treatment gave patients an average of 15.6 additional months of life.
Oscar’s haematologist, Dr. Eleni Tholouli, said CAR-T therapy is safer, has fewer side effects, and is more effective than existing treatments.
“Typically, this type of leukaemia is very aggressive, and adult patients do not survive for more than six to eight months.” With this therapy, we are able to offer them a cure for years and potentially more.
“This is very important and is revolutionising the way we tackle cancer.”
family handoutCAR-T therapy for some types of leukaemia and lymphoma has been available on the NHS for many years, but with this new form of treatment it has now only been extended to adults with B-cell ALL.
Last month, Oscar’s T-cells – a type of white blood cells— were removed and sent to a laboratory in Stevenage.
The cells were then reprogrammed using a harmless virus to introduce a genetic sequence that enables them to identify cancer.
The new surface receptors can then recognise the cancer cells and bind to them—like a lock and key— and mark them for destruction.
They become “chimeric antigen receptor T cells”—or CAR T cells— and their numbers are greatly multiplied in the laboratory to create millions of copies.
Oscar’s personal medicine, or living medicine, was cryopreserved and sent to Manchester Royal Infirmary.
The little bag containing Oscar’s personalised treatment contained 100 million CAR T cells in just three teaspoons of liquid, and it took only a few minutes for them to circulate in his bloodstream.
Oscar expressed his amazement at the treatment’s potency despite its low dosage.
“It’s very science fiction, but if it means it gets rid of cancer permanently and my cells can do that, then that’s fantastic.”
Oscar had 300 million cells injected into him for the second time yesterday, marking the end of his CAR-T treatment.
Because it is a “living medicine”, the cancer-killing T-cells stay in the body for a long time and continue to grow and work inside the patient after the last injection.
The CAR-T therapy is manufactured by Autolus, a spin-out company of University College London.
During clinical trials, patient cells had to be shipped to laboratories in the US.
The list price of the treatment is £372,000 per infusion But the NHS has confidentiality exemptions.
It will be available to patients over the age of 26 whose B-cell ALL has not responded to treatment or has relapsed across several centres in England, including Cambridge, Newcastle, Sheffield, Plymouth and London.
Patients from Wales and Northern Ireland will have to go to England for treatment. It has not yet been approved in Scotland.
NHS England estimates that about 50 patients per year could benefit, but Tholauli told the BBC he believed it could be higher and predicted it would eventually be used as a first-line treatment instead of stem cell transplants.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said it was a “landmark moment” for people with aggressive blood cancers.
He said it was “remarkable” that the treatment now offered at NHS centres has been developed from UK scientific research.
“This will help more people like Oscar live longer and healthier lives.”
Chris Williams, 29, from Belfast, was diagnosed with the same aggressive type of leukaemia as Oscar in 2021.
When the cancer returned, he was given CAR-T therapy in Manchester, when it was still an experimental treatment. He has been in remission for almost three years now.
“A few years ago, I was very unwell and now I’m able to live a full life. I’m able to go back to work. I also met Chloe and we’re now engaged.
“I have fantastic support from my family and they are very happy.”
Oscar and his fiancée Lauren were married at Manchester Royal Infirmary last month.
He told the BBC he wanted to “get it over with” due to uncertainty about his condition, but the couple has a new ceremony in October.
“I want kids and a white picket fence with my amazing wife — I just want that normality. This is my opportunity to achieve that, and I am eagerly anticipating it.
Clarification 14 January: This article was amended to clarify from the beginning that Oscar Murphy is the first adult patient suffering from a particular type of leukaemia, B-cell ALL, rather than leukaemia more broadly, to receive this form of CAR-T therapy on the NHS.
