A biology teacher and mother-of-two has become the first UK patient to receive a \u00ab\u00a0gamechanger\u00a0\u00bb therapy to treat multiple sclerosis (MS).<\/p>\n
Emily Henders, 37, from Bushey, Hertfordshire, was treated at University College London Hospital (UCLH) as part of a global clinical trial.<\/p>\n
Mrs Henders had experienced \u00ab\u00a0really scary\u00a0\u00bb relapse episodes since being diagnosed in December 2021 during which, she said: \u00ab\u00a0My legs don’t work, I can’t walk.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Experts believe the targeted immunotherapy treatment could \u00ab\u00a0transform\u00a0\u00bb lives by slowing or even halting progression of the disease.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I hope taking part in the trial means I will never have to experience another relapse and that my MS symptoms will not progress,\u00a0\u00bb Mrs Henders said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I know it is still experimental but it offers a scientific rationale which, as a biology teacher, makes sense to me.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Multiple sclerosis is an \u00ab\u00a0autoimmune\u00a0\u00bb disease, which happens when the immune system attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord by mistake.<\/p>\n
The experimental treatment, known as CAR T cell therapy, aims to reset the immune system.<\/p>\n
It works by depleting B cells, which are thought to drive the autoimmune attack in MS.<\/p>\n
The patient’s own T cells, which hunt out infected or damaged cells, are genetically engineered and fed back into the patient via an infusion to \u00ab\u00a0re-set\u00a0\u00bb the immune system.<\/p>\n
Mrs Henders, who has sons aged six and four, told the PA news agency she was feeling well after receiving the infusion in a three-minute procedure.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I’m actually feeling really good. I’m feeling normal and I’ve got energy back.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I don’t have any nausea, I’ve had no fevers. I’m feeling pretty relaxed,\u00a0\u00bb she said.<\/p>\n
Mrs Henders, whose father also has MS, was diagnosed on Christmas Eve after suffering tingling in her hands.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Physically, my symptoms have progressively got worse,\u00a0\u00bb she said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I notice sometimes my foot hits the pavement in a funny way. Or when I’m teaching and my hands are shaking.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Mrs Henders will \u00ab\u00a0never forget\u00a0\u00bb her first major relapse when her children saw her taken away by ambulance.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I was getting out of bed and I couldn’t stand up – it was very scary,\u00a0\u00bb she said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I’ll never forget my children’s faces as the medics were rushing in and strapping me to a chair.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Emotionally, I worry for them and how they’re dealing with it.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I worry that this might be passed on to them. It’s very scary for the future, not knowing what the next relapse would bring.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Mrs Henders hopes the treatment will avoid the decline typical in MS patients, who often require a wheelchair.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It would mean I’ll be able to chase my children around, and I’ll still be able to work,\u00a0\u00bb she said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0I wouldn’t be able to be a science teacher in a wheelchair or even on crutches.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0It’s too much of a health and safety hazard, so that would have a real impact on my job.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the MS Society said: \u00ab\u00a0It’s early days but, if trial results prove successful, CAR T-cell therapy could be a gamechanger for how we treat the condition.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
UCLH consultant haematologist Claire Roddie said the team was \u00ab\u00a0excited\u00a0\u00bb about the trial.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We are taking a treatment developed to treat cancers and re-purposing it for a whole new spectrum of conditions,\u00a0\u00bb she said.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0We give CAR T-cell therapy – bang, you’re in, you get the treatment, and that’s it.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Hopefully you don’t need any more drugs beyond that point.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0If we could achieve that in MS, it would transform so many people’s lives.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A biology teacher and mother-of-two has become the first UK patient to receive a \u00ab\u00a0gamechanger\u00a0\u00bb therapy to treat multiple sclerosis (MS). Emily Henders, 37, from Bushey, Hertfordshire, was treated at University College London Hospital (UCLH) as part of a global clinical trial. Mrs Henders had experienced \u00ab\u00a0really scary\u00a0\u00bb relapse episodes since being diagnosed in December […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9341\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placedesnations.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}