A man from Rotherham with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) has become the first patient in Sheffield, and the seventh worldwide, to receive an experimental CAR T cell therapy as part of an international clinical trial. Doctors and charities say the treatment, adapted from a cancer therapy, could be a "gamechanger" for MS if it proves safe and effective, offering hope to patients for whom existing drugs are not working.

CAR T cell therapy involves removing a patient's T cells, genetically modifying them in a laboratory to target the specific immune cells that damage nerve fibres in MS, then reintroducing them into the body as a one-off "immune system reset". It has already produced long-term remission in some blood cancer patients, and researchers are now testing whether it can work similarly for autoimmune conditions such as MS and lupus. The trial, running at four UK centres including Sheffield's Royal Hallamshire Hospital, is open to those aged 18 to 60 with worsening progressive MS who have not responded to standard treatment, and aims to recruit up to 18 patients globally, with this early phase focused on assessing safety.