‘At 13, I thought my leukaemia was incurable. But a new treatment has made me cancer-free’
Teenager who received world-first leukaemia treatment is now cancer-free
- Alyssa Tapley became the first patient globally to receive a pioneering treatment for T-cell leukaemia, which involves editing healthy immune cells to combat cancer, after conventional therapies failed.
- Three years post-treatment, Alyssa, now 16, is disease-free and has been discharged to long-term follow-up, inspiring her to pursue a career as a research scientist.
- The treatment, known as BE-CAR7, uses base-edited CAR T-cells from a donor to target and destroy leukaemia cells, followed by a bone marrow transplant to rebuild the immune system.
- A clinical trial involving nine children and four adults with aggressive T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) showed that almost two thirds (64 per cent) of participants are now disease-free.
- Developed by scientists at Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) and University College London (UCL), BE-CAR7 offers hope for patients with resistant forms of leukaemia, with results published in the New England Journal of Medicine.