A devastating relapse nine months after her stem cell transplant launched Ruth Wake into a “fight for her life” which would eventually instigate a national campaign for change. Ruth was…

In the summer of 2015, 28-year-old Billie McPartlan was building her career as a PA working at Canary Wharf in London. She had enjoyed a holiday to Ibiza with friends and was excitedly planning her wedding to Tony the…

For patients with blood cancer such as leukaemia, a stem cell transplant can offer the chance of a cure. But when a transplant fails or the disease returns, some patients may need a second transplant to have hope of long-term survival. Despite advances in transplant medicine, an NHS England policy introduced in 2017 continues to restrict access to second stem cell transplants based on a rigid ’12-month rule’.
In this blog series, we explore why the policy is under review, how treatment outcomes have changed over the last decade, and why charities including Leukaemia UK, Anthony Nolan and DKMS are calling for a more personalised, evidence-based approach to care.