UK teacher makes history with MS therapy

Maryam Zakir-Hussain, The Independent

A biology teacher has been given a "gamechanger" therapy to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), becoming the first patient in the UK to receive the procedure. Experts believe the CAR T-cell treatment will "transform" lives by halting or slowing down progression of the disease. It is custom-built for each patient in the lab. The person's own T cells, which are crucial for hunting out infected or damaged cells, are genetically engineered by scientists and fed back into the patient via an infusion to "re-set" the immune system. CAR T for MS modifies the T cells to recognise and kill B cells, which are known to cause damage and allow MS to advance.

Emily Henders, 37, from Bushey, Hertfordshire, received her CAR T last week at University College London Hospital (UCLH) as part of a global clinical trial into whether it can treat MS. The mother-of-two, who has sons aged six and four and is married to Brandon, told the PA news agency she was feeling well after receiving the infusion in a three-minute procedure. "I'm actually feeling really good," she said. "I'm feeling normal and I've got energy back. I don't have any nausea, I've had no fevers. I'm feeling pretty relaxed."

Mrs Henders was diagnosed with MS in December 2021 after suffering tingling in her hands. Her father has the condition and she was aware what the symptoms could indicate.

"It has always been in the back of my mind I guess because I knew that there was a genetic or a hereditary component to it," she said, "but it still came as a shock and was quite a hard pill to swallow. I was diagnosed on Christmas Eve as well — it probably wasn't the best day to go and get that diagnosis." Since being told she has MS, Mrs Henders has suffered four debilitating relapses, despite taking one of the most highly effective medications for the disease. "Physically, my symptoms have progressively got worse," she said. "I notice sometimes my foot hits the pavement in a funny way. No-one else would notice it, but I feel it. "Or when I'm teaching and I'm doing a science experiment, I can feel my hands are shaking, and I'm very much aware that probably the students can see that my hands are shaking.

"When I'm having a relapse, not being able to move my legs means I can't get around the house, I can't help with the kids, I can't drive, and then that puts an impact on everybody around me as well."

Mrs Henders will "never forget" her first major relapse when an ambulance had to be called and her children had to see her wheeled away. "I was just getting out of bed and my oldest son was was there with me, and I couldn't stand up, and it was very scary," she said. "The ambulance came, and and I'll never forget my children's faces as the medics were rushing in and then strapping me to a chair and carrying me down the stairs and putting me in the back of an ambulance...

"Emotionally, I worry for them and how they're dealing with it, and how they're taking it. I worry that this might be passed on to them. It's very scary for the future, just not knowing what it's going to bring or what the next relapse would bring.

"MS has also impacted us in terms of growing our family. I would have loved to have had a third child, and the main reason we haven't is because I would have to be off medication, and we've had to weigh up the risk of that versus having another child.

"We've got two very healthy, beautiful boys and we've had to think: is it worth the risk to have another one? That's been really hard to accept, because I would really love a third."

Mrs Henders said a good outcome of CAR T-cell therapy for her would be to "never experience a relapse again", though "obviously the ideal would be a cure."

She added: "When I have my relapse, my legs don't work, I can't walk. It's obviously really scary. Amazingly, every time I have had a relapse, I do get that sensation back, but that fear is always there.