Sheffield's role in pioneering CAR T therapy as a potential treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) has featured on BBC Look North.
The piece, which aired on Monday 3 August and was filmed at the NIHR Clinical Research Facility: Sheffield, featured interviews with Professor Basil Sharrack and Professor John Snowden.
The BBC also interviewed patient Numan Unees, who was diagnosed with MS six years ago and was left unable to walk unaided.
The 40-year-old, from Rotherham, was the first patient in Sheffield and the seventh in a global trial to receive CAR T-cell therapy as a potential treatment for MS.
The trial, known as AUTOMS-1 or BOBCAT, is assessing if CAR T cell therapy, which was originally developed to treat some cancers, could be a potential treatment for MS.
In MS, CAR T aims to reset the immune system by depleting B cells which are believed to be driving the autoimmune attack causing the disease. Once infused back into the body, the patient's own modified T cells - which are given new instructions in the lab - act as a living drug to target and eliminate B cells.
The complex, specialist treatment was delivered in Sheffield thanks to the phenomenal work of our pharmacy, nursing and research teams and the fantastic collaboration between our haematology and neurology teams.
'Hope for the future'
|Numan told the BBC having the treatment was like "starting a new life"
The trial is currently open to patients aged 18 to 60 years diagnosed with progressive MS who are not responding well to existing medication and where disability is worsening.
Researchers will recruit up to 18 patients globally and the first phase is focused on testing the safety of the therapy.
Speaking just a month after receiving the therapy, Numan told the BBC it would be "like starting a new life" if it works and he regains some mobility.
Read the BBC piece here: [add link]
Related links:
- First Sheffield CAR T MS patient hails "best birthday gift ever" | Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
- Behind the headlines: CAR T-cell therapy for MS | MS Society
- UK trial begins for CAR-T therapy in MS | MS Trust
- CAR T-cell therapy for MS | Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
