Call Kings: +44 (0) 20 3299 3192

Contact Us

Services

Haematology

The Department of Haematological Medicine specialises in myelodysplastic syndromes, CAR T cell Therapy, myeloma, leukaemia, lymphoma, sickle cell disease and the prenatal diagnosis of inherited red cell disorders.

King’s College Hospital was the first centre in the UK to deliver CAR T cells to patients with lymphoma through the NHS and has performed the largest number of cases nationwide.

The department’s anticoagulation and clinical thrombosis services are national leaders in managing venous thromboembolism and thrombophilia.

We also have close links with the Department of Child Health and jointly manage the paediatric haematology disorders.

Meet the Team

Haematology

The unit has the largest bone marrow transplant programme in the UK and performs more than 200 autologous, allogeneic and unrelated transplants a year, with outcomes equal to international standards. We have the first Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC) approved immune gene therapy programme for leukaemia and are a centre of excellence for myelodysplastic syndromes.
CAR-T Therapy

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is an approach that uses the bodies own immune cells to fight cancer. It is showing great promise particularly in leukaemia and lymphoma and is offered here at King’s Private.

King’s Private is one of a handful of CAR T cell centres in the UK that are approved to give both the licenced autologous CD19 CAR T cell products, Yescarta, Tecartus and Kymriah under specific indications:

  • Axicabtogene ciloleucel (Yescarta) for patients with relapsed (lymphoma has returned) or refractory (lymphoma did not respond) diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) or transformed follicular lymphoma, who have had two or more previous courses of treatment.
  • Tecartus for patients with mantle cell lymphoma which has relapsed or was refractory post anthracycline or bendamustine-containing chemotherapy, an anti-CD20 antibody therapy and a Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor (ibrutinib or acalabrutinib).
  • Tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) for patients with DLBCL or transformed follicular lymphoma who have had two or more previous courses of treatment.
  • Tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) for young adults aged 18-25 with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia whose cancer has come back two or more times or has come back after stem cell transplantation.

Our NHS partner King’s College Hospital was the first hospital in the UK to infuse CAR T cells to a patient with lymphoma in January 2019 and has rapidly become the largest CAR T cell centre in the UK. At King’s Private, our consultants are linked with our specialist haematology multi-disciplinary teams to ensure you are given the best advice for your treatment.

We will also have access to state of the art clinical trials in CAR T cells in other disease not currently covered by the licenced indications in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, myeloma and follicular lymphoma.

CAR T cell therapy is a complex treatment and can only be provided at a very small number of hospitals in the UK that have JACIE accreditation and perform stem cell transplantation. King’s private will delivery CAR T cell therapy on a ward with specific CAR T expertise, with access to a variety of specialists that have had input into the management of the largest number of CAR T cell treated patients in the UK. We also have large level 3 intensive care unit facilities within the same building at King’s College Hospital with expertise in dealing with the potential side effects.

For further information please contact:

Kch-tr.KingsCAR@nhs.net

Haematology

We provide specialist diagnostic investigations and treatment for a wide range of blood, bone marrow and spleen disorders.

We treat all types of anaemia, platelet disorders, polycythaemia (high red cell count), iron metabolism disorders such as haemochromatosis (iron overload) and abnormal white cell counts.

Our service also offers specialist transfusion advice for pregnant women, patients with special requirements and patients who refuse blood products.

Heamato-oncology
King’s is a leading national and international centre for the diagnosis and treatment of blood cancers.

We are home to the centralised bone marrow transplant (BMT) service for King’s and Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trusts. This has the largest BMT programme in the UK and performs more than 160 transplants a year.

We are also an international centre for research into and the treatment of myeloid leukaemias, lymphomas and myeloma, and have the first immune gene therapy programme for leukaemia approved by the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC).

As a Centre of Excellence for myelodysplasia we have expertise in matched and unrelated transplants for the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)

Thirty years ago we began conducting autologous transplants (where a patient is treated with their own cells) and we now run the UK’s largest programme of complex transplants, including non-related adult and parent-to-child bone marrow transplants and cord blood cell transplants. We have a large unit with experts in every disease type which is internationally recognised.

Leukaemia

King’s is one of the world’s leading centres for the treatment of leukaemias and is the only centre in Europe to have clinical and research expertise in all the main disease areas, including:

  • myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS),
  • acute myleoid leukaemia (AML),
  • aplastic anaemia (AA) and
  • paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH).

The outlook for leukaemia patients aged over 50 is often very poor, as traditional chemotherapy treatments are not well tolerated by older people. King’s introduced the concept of non-related bone marrow transplants for patients over 50, using minimal chemotherapy to suppress the patient’s immunity and replace it with a new immune system which then kills the leukaemia cells. This technique is now widely used, especially for myeloid leukaemias, where King’s is an international centre of excellence.

Paediatric Haematology
We investigate and treat children with general blood problems such as anaemia, or abnormal bruising or bleeding. We also support children who attend King’s Paediatric Liver Unit and those on the Neonatal and Paediatric Neurosurgical units who may have blood problems.

In addition, we treat children with haemoglobin (red blood cell) disorders and those being treated for cancer and leukaemia (blood cancer).