Sheffield trust delivers first treatment of targeted cancer therapy

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has started to deliver a revolutionary cancer therapy to patients with certain forms of aggressive blood cancer.

Chimeric antigen receptor t-cell (CAR-T) therapy is a personalised treatment that uses the patient’s own genetically modified immune system cells to target and kill cancer cells. The treatment brings new hope for some patients who have not responded to other treatments. It has been shown in trials to cure some patients, even those with quite advanced cancers.

Consultant haematologist Dr Nick Morley said: “We are delighted to have become a national specialist centre for CAR-T therapy. It is an intensive but exciting and innovative new treatment, which has shown amazing results in some patients with blood cancer. Personalised therapies are increasingly used to treat cancer, and by effectively modifying the patient’s existing immune system, CAR-T enables us to deliver a targeted therapy capable of seeking out and destroying cancer cells hiding from the immune system.”

The trust is the first designated Wave 3 NHS England CAR-T therapy centre, and the 11th in the country to deliver the treatment to adults. The first patient at the trust received the first course of treatment earlier this year.

Picture: Dr Nick Morley (centre) with the specialist CAR-T cancer therapy team.

Published on page 14 of the March 2023 issue of RAD Magazine.