New cancer therapy set for young

A pioneering cancer treatment has been recommended for leukaemia patients under the age of 25.

CART-cell therapy involves taking a person’s own immune cells and modifying them to fight their cancer cells, and has the potential to be a cure.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said young people with relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) will have access to tisagenlecleucel through the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

Blood cancer charity Bloodwise said the announcement will come as a “huge relief for a number of worried families” and give children with leukaemia the real possibility of long-term survival.

Tisagenlecleucel will be offered to people under the age of 25 who have not responded to current treatment or who have relapsed after a stem cell transplant.

Around 25 to 30 patients will be eligible for tisagenlecleucel each year in England and a specialised NHS service is being developed to manage access to the therapy.

Young people with relapsed or refractory B-cell ALL have repeated cycles of treatment, which can have substantial psychological and physical effects and some have poor outcomes. The current treatment for this stage of the disease is chemotherapy.

NHS England is preparing to make tisagenlecleucel – also known as Kymriah – available in the coming weeks.

Meindert Boysen, of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation at Nice, said: “Nice’s recommendation marks a new generation of personalised medicine.”