A 28-year-old man has become the first NHS patient to receive a newly approved “living drug” for an aggressive form of leukaemia, describing the experience as both extraordinary and hopeful. Oscar Murphy, from Bury, was treated at Manchester Royal Infirmary with CAR-T therapy, a cutting-edge immunotherapy that uses a patient’s own genetically altered immune cells to fight cancer.

Oscar was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in March 2025. After undergoing chemotherapy and a donor stem cell transplant, he was told later that year that the disease had returned. Given the fast-moving nature of his cancer, doctors recommended CAR-T therapy, which NHS England has now agreed to fund at specialist centres across England for eligible adults.

The treatment involves removing T-cells from the patient’s blood and modifying them in a laboratory so they can recognise and destroy cancer cells. Millions of these enhanced cells are then infused back into the body, where they continue working long after treatment ends. Clinical trials have shown promising results, with more than three-quarters of patients entering remission and some remaining cancer-free for several years.

Oscar’s consultant said the therapy could significantly extend life and may even offer a cure for some patients. Now newly married, Oscar says the treatment gives him hope for a future that includes family life and a return to normality, calling it his “chance to get life back on track.”