London:

Yuvan Thakkar, an Indian-origin teenager diagnosed with cancer, says he is now able to enjoy the things he loves after life-changing treatment thanks to a fund set up by the UK’s state-funded National Health Service to make innovative therapies accessible to thousands of patients.

According to NHS England, 16-year-old Mr Thakkar from Watford near London was the first child in the UK to benefit from a pioneering CAR T therapy called tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) thanks to its Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

It comes as the National Health Service (NHS) marks a milestone this weekend of 100,000 patients benefitting from early access to the latest and most innovative treatments with the help of CDF. The undisclosed cost of such treatments is covered by the fund.

“My life has changed so much since I received the CAR T therapy,” said Mr Thakkar, who thanked Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London for the “incredible” care he received.

“I remember I had to take so many trips to hospital and had long periods out of school… They have helped me recover to a state where I am able to enjoy so many things I love doing, such as playing snooker or pool, meeting friends and family, and going on wonderful holidays. It’s hard to imagine how things would have been if the treatment wasn’t available,” he said.

Mr Thakkar, diagnosed with a form of leukaemia aged six, received a treatment which modifies a person’s immune cells to recognise and attack cancer cells.

His treatment began in 2019, when he was 11 years old after he relapsed following other treatments such as chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. His mother Sapna said the family had received a “second chance” at life since the success of the treatment. Without the fast-track access available through the CDF, the 45-year-old said there may have been no other way for her son to receive the life-saving treatment.

“It felt like our prayers were finally answered. We still feel so grateful for this chance that’s been given to us and not a single day passes by when we haven’t felt thankful for all the doctors and nurses that have helped us through this long and difficult journey,” said Sapna Thakkar.

The CDF, which opened in its current form in July 2016, is used by NHS England to provide fast-tracked access for patients to all new cancer treatments approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), in addition to gathering further evidence of long-term effectiveness for promising drugs. It allows faster access to more than 100 drugs to help improve, extend or – in some cases – save their lives.

“Treating 100,000 cancer patients in England with innovative treatments through the Cancer Drugs Fund is a fantastic milestone for the health service to reach, and testament to the hard work of oncologists and their teams across the country,” said Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director.

“This vital fund is helping ensure patients get access to the most promising drugs far quicker than would otherwise be the case, helping people with cancer like Yuvan receive a life-changing intervention that sets a path for a longer, healthier life spent with family and friends,” he said.

The fund benefits people with common cancers, such as breast, lung, colorectal and prostate, as well as those with less common cancers, such as ovarian, cervical, kidney, skin, myeloma, lymphoma and leukaemia, and rare cancers, including thyroid and biliary tract.

The current CDF budget of GBP 340 million is 70 per cent more than the previous CDF and is used alongside NHS England’s Innovative Medicines Fund of GBP 340 million, which the health service said means a total of GBP 680 million is ringfenced for fast-tracking new medicines.

 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Britain’s state-run national health service will be the first in the world to offer an injection that treats cancer to hundreds of patients in England which could cut treatment times by up to three quarters.

Following approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), NHS England said on Tuesday hundreds of eligible patients treated with the immunotherapy, atezolizumab, were set to have “under the skin” injection, which will free up more time for cancer teams.

“This approval will not only allow us to deliver convenient and faster care for our patients, but will enable our teams to treat more patients throughout the day,” Dr Alexander Martin, a consultant oncologist at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust said.

NHS England said atezolizumab, also known as Tecentriq, is usually given to patients intravenously, directly into their veins via a drip, which could often take around 30 minutes or up to an hour for some patients when it can be difficult to access a vein.

“It takes approximately seven minutes, compared with 30 to 60 minutes for the current method of an intravenous infusion,” Marius Scholtz, Medical Director at Roche Products Limited said.

Atezolizumab – made by Genentech, a Roche company – is an immunotherapy drug that empowers a patient’s own immune system to seek and destroy cancerous cells. The treatment is currently offered by transfusion to NHS patients with a range of cancers, including lung, breast, liver and bladder.

NHS England said it expected the majority of around 3,600 patients starting the treatment of atezolizumab every year in England to switch onto the time-saving injection.

But added that patients receiving intravenous chemotherapy in combination with atezolizumab may remain on the transfusion.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)