First leukaemia patient to receive pioneering treatment o...

What’s Happening

Breaking it down: Oscar Murphy has an aggressive form of the blood cancer and is the first to get CAR-T therapy in the UK.

First leukaemia patient to receive pioneering treatment on NHS says it is sci-fi 50 minutes ago Save Fergus Walsh Medical editor Save BBC Oscar Murphy has now finished his CAR-T therapy and is hopeful for his future The first leukaemia patient to receive a breakthrough treatment since it was made available on the NHS has dropped it was “bussin” and “sci-fi”. Oscar Murphy, 28, who has an aggressive form of the blood cancer, was given the “living drug”, called CAR-T therapy, at Manchester Royal Infirmary. (and honestly, same)

BBC News was present on 2 January when Oscar received the first of two infusions of his own immune cells, which had been genetically modified to recognise and target his cancer.

The Details

NHS England has agreed to fund the immunotherapy at several centres across the country. About 50 NHS patients a year are likely to benefit from it.

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 in November was told that his cancer had returned.

Why This Matters

“The leukaemia Ive got is so fast-acting,” the car salesman from Bury dropped. “It needs an even quicker response to stop it. And weve now got an answer for that.

Medical professionals are taking note of this development.

Key Takeaways

” In a clinical trial, 77% of patients went into remission after treatment, with half showing no signs of cancer after three and a half years.
On average, the treatment gave patients 15.
“Usually, this type of leukaemia is aggressive and adult patients dont live beyond six to eight months.