First leukaemia patient to receive pioneering treatment on NHS says it is 'very sci-fi'

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.

"The leukaemia I've got is so fast-acting," the car salesman from Bury said. "It needs an even quicker response to stop it. And we've now got an answer for that."

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 15.6 additional months of life.

Oscar's haematologist, Dr Eleni Tholouli, said the CAR-T therapy was safer than existing treatments, with fewer side-effects and much more effective.

"Usually, this type of leukaemia is very aggressive and adult patients don't live beyond six to eight months. With this therapy, we are able to offer them years and potentially a cure.

"It's very significant and is revolutionising the way we tackle this cancer."

CAR-T therapy has been available on the NHS for several years for certain types of leukaemia and lymphoma but has only now been extended to adults with B-cell ALL, with this new form of the treatment.

Last month, Oscar had T-cells - a type of white blood cell - removed and sent to a lab in Stevenage.

The cells were then reprogrammed using a harmless virus to introduce a genetic sequence that enables them to identify the cancer.

New surface receptors can then recognise and are able to attach to cancer cells - 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 expanded in the lab to make millions of copies.

Oscar's personalised treatment, or living drug, was cryopreserved and sent to Manchester Royal Infirmary.

The tiny bag containing Oscar's personalised treatment held 100 million CAR T-cells in just three teaspoons of liquid, and it took only a few minutes to infuse into his bloodstream.

Clarification 14 January: This article was amended to make clear from the beginning that Oscar Murphy is the first adult patient with a particular type of leukaemia, B-cell ALL, rather than leukaemia more broadly, to receive this form of CAR-T therapy on the NHS.