In October 2025, a patient with multiple sclerosis became the first person in the United Kingdom to receive CAR-T cell therapy as part of a clinical trial, News Medical Live Sciences reports. The procedure was carried out at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) for 37-year-old Emma Henders from the town of Bushey in Hertfordshire.

She hopes that taking part in the trial will allow her to avoid further relapses of the disease and halt the progression of her symptoms.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks myelin — the protective sheath surrounding nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. This leads to a range of neurological symptoms, including vision problems, difficulty with movement, as well as memory and cognitive issues. At present, there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, and existing treatments do not always prevent relapses or slow the progression of the disease.

The CAR-T cell therapy developed by scientists at University College London is a personalised treatment method in which a patient’s own T-cells are modified in the laboratory to destroy B-cells — immune cells believed to play a key role in the development of autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis. This approach has already demonstrated high effectiveness in treating certain types of blood cancer.

Dr. Claire Roddie, a researcher at the UCL Cancer Institute and a consultant haematologist at UCLH, noted:

“It is wonderful to be involved in developing therapy for patients with multiple sclerosis. This Phase I clinical trial will help us understand how safe and effective obe-cel may be in multiple sclerosis.”

“CAR-T cell therapy is an exciting new prospect for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, and this trial will be vital for assessing the feasibility and safety of using CAR-T in multiple sclerosis.”

This breakthrough research opens new horizons in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and may lead to the development of more effective therapies in the future.