Indian-origin teen first to get UK's life-changing cancer treatment

Yuvan Thakkar, an Indian-origin teenager diagnosed with cancer, says he is now able to enjoy the things he loves after life-changing treatment thanks to a fund set up by the UK's state-funded National Health Service to make innovative therapies accessible to thousands of patients.

According to NHS England, 16-year-old Mr Thakkar from Watford near London was the first child in the UK to benefit from a pioneering CAR T therapy called tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) thanks to its Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

It comes as the National Health Service (NHS) marks a milestone this weekend of 100,000 patients benefitting from early access to the latest and most innovative treatments with the help of CDF. The undisclosed cost of such treatments is covered by the fund.