GOSH and Shanghai Children’s Hospital Forum: CAR T-cell therapy to treat childhood leukaemia

On the 26th of April a live virtual forum successfully took place between expert haematology teams from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in the UK and Shanghai Children’s Hospital (SCH) in China, the topic of which focused on CAR T-cell therapy to treat childhood leukaemia. 

The forum was chaired by Dr Melanie Hiorns, Clinical Director of International and Private Care at GOSH, followed by presentations from Professor Hui Jiang and Dr Na Zhang from the SCH haematology team regarding their current CAR T-Cell research and clinical work. Dr Sara Ghorashian, Consultant Paediatric Haematologist, then spoke about the CAR T-cell programmes at GOSH.  

During the meeting, the SCH team also presented a relapsed and difficult-to-treat Acute Myelocytic Leukaemia (AML) patient case for discussion. Dr Ghorashian and Dr Phil Ancliff, Consultant Paediatric Haematologist at GOSH, provided recommendations on possible treatment options based on their experience. Clinicians from both hospitals also discussed the possibility of CAR T therapy for the patient. At the end of the forum, the two hospitals looked forward to further exchanges and cooperation in the future. 

Since 2017, a range of onsite exchange events have successfully been conducted between GOSH and SCH in the fields of haematology, neurology, craniofacial medicine and other multidisciplinary paediatric specialities. The two hospitals have established a successful, collaborative international partnership.  

GOSH is one of the largest CAR T centres in Europe for licensed CAR T-cell therapy for paediatric Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia (ALL) and is also proud to be the first NHS hospital in the UK to treat a paediatric patient successfully using Kymriah outside of a clinical trial. GOSH has pioneered research into cell therapy and led one of the first clinical studies of CAR-T therapy for childhood leukaemia in Europe.  

SCH started research work in CAR T-cell to treat relapsed B cell ALL patients in 2018, reaching the international advanced level of diagnosing and treating children with childhood blood diseases.  

As leading children's hospitals in the UK and China, the two parties look forward to actively deepening their cooperation between their clinical and research departments to protect the health and future of children around the world.