:00:07. > :00:12.Tonight on Panorama: Exclusive access to patients pioneering a
:00:13. > :00:19.radical treatment for an incurable disease. I just melted. My body was
:00:20. > :00:25.just unable to get across the road and I just slumped onto the floor.
:00:26. > :00:31.Multiple sclerosis affects 100,000 people in the UK, most of them
:00:32. > :00:35.diagnosed in their 20s and 30s. This all happened within a couple of
:00:36. > :00:41.months. I had to get a wheelchair, couldn't cook, couldn't dress
:00:42. > :00:46.myself. It's just scary because you think, well, when is it going to
:00:47. > :00:50.end? Now there's hope that a bone marrow stem cell transplant, usually
:00:51. > :00:55.given to cancer patients, could stop MS in its tracks, preventing
:00:56. > :00:59.lifelong disability. To live without that burden is going to be the
:01:00. > :01:10.biggest release for me and the freedom for me and that, you can't
:01:11. > :01:16.get any better than that. I hope I get the blue kayak. Blue one? Steven
:01:17. > :01:20.Storey was diagnosed with MS two years ago. In that time, he's gone
:01:21. > :01:26.from being a marathon runner to losing the use of his legs. Let's
:01:27. > :01:36.see how well we can wheelchair across this gravel. Before MS life
:01:37. > :01:38.was fantastic. I used to do lots of sport, triathlon, mountain
:01:39. > :01:42.marathons, cycling. I did a lot of climbing. I spent a lot of time with
:01:43. > :01:50.the kids and doing lots of those things with them as well. Now he's
:01:51. > :01:56.back kayaking with his daughters for the first time since his diagnosis.
:01:57. > :02:02.It's really fun, yeah. I'm enjoying it. It's like what we used to do.
:02:03. > :02:08.It's bringing back a lot of memories from before. There's lots of
:02:09. > :02:12.adventures, we've just got to redefine what those adventures afr.
:02:13. > :02:17.Whatever your condition, there's always things you can do. Steven
:02:18. > :02:23.hopes we will way one walk again. He's part a group of MS patients in
:02:24. > :02:36.Sheffield undergoing a cancer treatment at the -- at the Royal
:02:37. > :02:41.Hallamshire Hospital. Paul Kirkham is one of 100 people a week in the
:02:42. > :02:45.UK diagnosed with MS. I was one of the most active person. The last
:02:46. > :02:51.three months, since I've had a relapse, I've not been out of the
:02:52. > :02:55.house to be honest. He's being assessed by neurologist Professor
:02:56. > :02:58.Basil Sharrack in the hospital of starting the intensive stem cell
:02:59. > :03:09.treatment. Step forward. OK, I'd like to see how stable you are.
:03:10. > :03:14.Stand there. I'd like to walk heel to toe like that. That's a bit
:03:15. > :03:22.difficult. It is, yeah. That's fine. We're done. What I've noticed it's
:03:23. > :03:26.them toes here. I feel like them ones are
:03:27. > :03:32.them toes here. I feel like them walking about with blocks of
:03:33. > :03:35.your feet. That's because of the inflammation in the pile
:03:36. > :03:38.your feet. That's because of the affecting the ability of these
:03:39. > :03:44.nerves to transmit normal sensation up to your brain. That will give you
:03:45. > :03:53.the feeling of your toes not feeling normal. MS occurs when the immune
:03:54. > :03:56.system mistakenly attacks the protective insulation around nerve
:03:57. > :04:01.fibres in the brain and spinal cord, causing inflammation. Just as a
:04:02. > :04:03.frayed electrical wire short circuits, the nerve fibres
:04:04. > :04:07.malfunction. This causes a huge range of symptoms, from fatigue and
:04:08. > :04:11.pain, to balance and walking problems and sometimes permanent
:04:12. > :04:15.disability. For 13 years, Paul's MS was mild. But the disease recently
:04:16. > :04:22.became aggressive, forcing him to stop work.
:04:23. > :04:28.Even going back to work, I'd well, I'd love to do that I'd go back to
:04:29. > :04:35.work and crack on with my life. This has only happened in the last three
:04:36. > :04:39.month, prior to that, you could go for a walk, take the dog, probably a
:04:40. > :04:46.couple of miles. Can't manage it, can you? I'm struggling, really
:04:47. > :04:50.struggling, aren't I? Yeah. Despite Paul's MS, the family used to enjoy
:04:51. > :04:56.all kinds of sports together, but now skiing is no longer possible. I
:04:57. > :05:05.cannot believe that were a year-and-a-half ago. I were doing
:05:06. > :05:09.that. Now look at me. I'm a bit gutted we didn't go this year. But
:05:10. > :05:16.hopefully we'll be there next year. Should be a lot of us. It should be
:05:17. > :05:25.good. There you are. Just going over some jumps. Professor John Snowden,
:05:26. > :05:29.a specialist in treating blood cancers, hopes to fix Paul's immune
:05:30. > :05:34.system with a standard treatment in his field, a bone marrow transplant.
:05:35. > :05:39.We would hope to rebuild your immune system in a slightly different way.
:05:40. > :05:43.It will still be your own immune system. It's not actually a true
:05:44. > :05:48.transplant, because it's going to be stem cells from yourself. In effect
:05:49. > :05:56.an immune system that's been reset or rebooted back to a time point
:05:57. > :06:00.before it caused MS, This reboot of the immune system uses the patient's
:06:01. > :06:05.own stem cells, found in their bone marrow. These cells are at such an
:06:06. > :06:12.early stage they've not developed the flaws that trigger MS. But the
:06:13. > :06:16.transplant is an arduous treatment. We have to mention that occasionally
:06:17. > :06:27.some people have quite a difficult time with this type of treatment,
:06:28. > :06:32.because it does involve intensive chemotherapy and transplant
:06:33. > :06:42.procedure. Hey up, mum. Hello, love. You all right? I am now. I've been
:06:43. > :06:49.thinking about you all day. I'm on chemo now. All right dad? Lovely.
:06:50. > :06:58.How do you feel coming in and seeing Paul today? A bit emotional. But
:06:59. > :07:03.we're positive, aren't we? He's the youngest, yeah, he's me baby. You
:07:04. > :07:09.don't expect anything like this to happen to them. I know that he's
:07:10. > :07:16.been really poorly. He's tried toe put a brave face on, haven't you?
:07:17. > :07:22.And he's been a bit depressed, haven't you? He's not been able to
:07:23. > :07:28.work and he's always been a worker. Loves his job. He loves his
:07:29. > :07:31.children. Paul's first dose of chemotherapy, which is combined with
:07:32. > :07:39.growth hormones, is designed to flush out stem cells from his bone
:07:40. > :07:44.marrow. Had a bit of a rough night. But got about four hours sleep. Felt
:07:45. > :07:55.a bit sick in the night, but they seem to think that might go, but
:07:56. > :07:59.we'll see. A week later, the drugs have done their work. The stem cells
:08:00. > :08:07.have left the bone marrow and are now circulating in his blood, ready
:08:08. > :08:11.to be harvested. They're going to start sieving the stem cells out of
:08:12. > :08:18.me body. It's amazing what they can do. You all right with needles?
:08:19. > :08:22.You're not a fainter? No, I'm not. I've been like a hedgehog the last
:08:23. > :08:27.few days, with the amount I've had in me! Feeling all right? I feel a
:08:28. > :08:33.bit hot headed. Get me fan. Blood is taken out of one arm and the stem
:08:34. > :08:39.cells skimmed off and collected whilst in Paul's other arm, the rest
:08:40. > :08:48.of the blood is returned. Have you come to look at me stem cells. Can
:08:49. > :08:52.you see them? That's it there. That bag to the right, that's me stem
:08:53. > :09:00.cells. The one to the right is the plasma.
:09:01. > :09:05.Say bye to your cells. That's the size of the potato we've got for
:09:06. > :09:13.tea. Give over! There'll be other ones. Louise Barritt lives with her
:09:14. > :09:18.fiance, Steve and her son Owen. Like more than eight in ten MS patients,
:09:19. > :09:24.Louise has the relapsing remitting form of the disease, which this
:09:25. > :09:30.therapy hopes to treat. It means she suffers acute attacks, relapses, but
:09:31. > :09:34.with periods of recovery in between.er It's got worse this year,
:09:35. > :09:40.since I've had the relapse. MS takes its toll not just on her body, but
:09:41. > :09:44.her mind. The biggest thing is the fatigue and just feeling absolutely
:09:45. > :09:48.exhausted and not just feeling tired, but it's the brain fog and
:09:49. > :09:55.the inability to concentrate and follow conversations and make
:09:56. > :10:04.decisions. Louise has already started her stem cell treatment at
:10:05. > :10:10.the royal Hallamshire. My mum, she has relapses, like and she sometimes
:10:11. > :10:14.has like her hands go all pins and needles because she's got MS. And
:10:15. > :10:22.they're trying to put, well, make it better. Her stem cells have been
:10:23. > :10:27.harvested, so Louise is about to go back into hospital, where she'll be
:10:28. > :10:32.kept in isolation to prevent infection while doctors first dleet
:10:33. > :10:44.and then reboot her immune system. -- deleet. -- delete. She might feel
:10:45. > :10:48.a bit, probably nervous. But she might feel happy that she's having
:10:49. > :10:55.it. But I know it might not work, but hopefully it does. Owen won't be
:10:56. > :10:59.able to visit his mum for several weeks during this second phase of
:11:00. > :11:03.the treatment. That's going to be the tough thing through all this
:11:04. > :11:08.really. Because he's only ten. He's never really been apart from me. I
:11:09. > :11:22.don't think he quite understands what they're fixing.
:11:23. > :11:29.Louise doesn't have cancer but is about to start aggressive
:11:30. > :11:34.chemotherapy and knows it will have side effects. With everything else
:11:35. > :11:39.going on with the treatment, I want this to be one of the easy things
:11:40. > :11:43.I've got to deal with. Before I cut all my hair off, I spent a long,
:11:44. > :11:50.long time growing my hair, so I'm very attached to it, it's actually
:11:51. > :11:56.quite a big deal for it all to go. So, yeah, I'm trying to make it as
:11:57. > :12:00.easy as possible really. Louise is now in isolation. She's had her
:12:01. > :12:05.chemo and has reached a critical day in her treatment. You've got a
:12:06. > :12:12.calendar with all the days crossed off? Yeah. There's the freedom
:12:13. > :12:18.crossed off in green tick there's. That's today up there? Yeah. This is
:12:19. > :12:28.what we call today, day zero, transplant day. Inside this tank,
:12:29. > :12:35.stored in liquid nitrogen, are the stem cells that could transform her
:12:36. > :12:41.health, hopefully rebuilding her immune system free of MS. And the
:12:42. > :12:45.lovely Louise is due her stem cells today, on the 13th. She's had all
:12:46. > :12:53.her chemotherapy over the weekend. We're good to go. Snap, crackle and
:12:54. > :12:57.pop! Just two bags containing two cupfuls of Louise's own stem cells
:12:58. > :13:05.are all it takes to re-Kindle her immune system. It just takes a few
:13:06. > :13:08.minutes to do. So the volumes are not too big actually, so they should
:13:09. > :13:14.only take about ten minutes to go in. For nurses treating cancer, this
:13:15. > :13:17.is routine practice. What happens to these cells is they hover around in
:13:18. > :13:21.your circulating blood system for three or four days am then they have
:13:22. > :13:27.like a homing mechanism on them and they migrate into the marrow. The
:13:28. > :13:32.things are that going to rescue me. More tan 100 patients are relapsing
:13:33. > :13:37.remitting MS are being recruited in four cities - Sheffield, Chicago,
:13:38. > :13:41.Stockholm and Sao Paulo, to a major trial, which will report in a couple
:13:42. > :13:49.of years and could establish this as a mainstream treatment. It's such a
:13:50. > :13:52.small procedure really, just putting it back into me body and that's it.
:13:53. > :14:03.We're just waiting then for the stem cells to do their work. For Paul,
:14:04. > :14:08.it's also day zero. Like Louise, his stem cells are being transplanted.
:14:09. > :14:19.Once they're established, both can go home.
:14:20. > :14:26.How you doing kid, you all right? Steven is back on this ward for the
:14:27. > :14:29.first time since his transplant. What gets me is there's no
:14:30. > :14:32.guarantees. They won't tell you how you're going to be, which I
:14:33. > :14:38.understand they don't know fully do they. Of course, no. You know what I
:14:39. > :14:42.mean? Whether I'll make 100% recovery, I don't know. I'm getting
:14:43. > :14:45.rebooted aren't I? Exactly, that's the whole point. People what
:14:46. > :14:51.understand computers and that, you know what reboot it. Exactly, just
:14:52. > :14:54.turn it off and restart it. It just reboots the system. That's what
:14:55. > :15:04.Steven used to compete in It's just absolutely staggering.
:15:05. > :15:10.Steven used to compete in triathlons. But then, out of the
:15:11. > :15:16.blue, MS struck him down. I was crossing a road. I did not fall, I
:15:17. > :15:20.just melted. My body was unable to get across the road and I slumped
:15:21. > :15:27.onto the floor. Somebody came over to help me and the next day I came
:15:28. > :15:31.into the hospital. Within nine months, Steven's condition had
:15:32. > :15:41.deteriorated to the point where he needed 24-hour acute care. Where you
:15:42. > :15:47.bad when you came onto the second phase? Yes. At your stage now I was
:15:48. > :15:52.completely paralysed, unable to even move might hope, unable to do
:15:53. > :15:58.anything. There is a point in your spinal-cord called T10. From there
:15:59. > :16:04.down I had zero muscle sensation and zero muscle flicker.
:16:05. > :16:07.I had a feeling it would be the rest of my life like that. I had a
:16:08. > :16:16.conversation with my kids about mortality. The prognosis could well
:16:17. > :16:23.have been continuing the speed of the decline, risperidone failure,
:16:24. > :16:27.intensive care, we almost that ends. Almost immediately, the treatment
:16:28. > :16:32.allowed his nervous system to start to recover. From day zero, the day
:16:33. > :16:42.you get your transplant, within nine days I could flicker my toe. It felt
:16:43. > :16:46.pretty good. I could flicker my toe. I spoke to the girls on Skype and I
:16:47. > :16:55.think they dropped their tablet. They were not expecting that at all.
:16:56. > :17:01.In the middle of his treatment, I am thinking, I will try my best,
:17:02. > :17:06.whatever I can do, I pushed myself as hard as I can. When I was in this
:17:07. > :17:10.room I made a commitment to myself, that if I ever got back to being
:17:11. > :17:15.able to do something, I made a bucket list of various things I
:17:16. > :17:18.wanted to do when I got out. One of the things was within a year I
:17:19. > :17:22.wanted to take part in another event.
:17:23. > :17:28.Just ten months later, Steven completed a mile long swim in the
:17:29. > :17:32.Lake District. People often come up to you and say, are you locate? No
:17:33. > :17:37.one was doing that. If you are wearing a wet suit ready to do a
:17:38. > :17:42.race, you don't need any help, just crack on. It was great. I felt I was
:17:43. > :17:49.back. Well done! CHEERING
:17:50. > :17:53.But for Steven, the treatment came only after MS had done severe damage
:17:54. > :18:02.to his nervous system, so there may be limits to his recovery.
:18:03. > :18:12.That is one foot there. Try and get both feet on the floor first. We are
:18:13. > :18:21.on! So this is something that you did not have the balance to do
:18:22. > :18:25.before? No. Because of all the cycling and sport that I have done,
:18:26. > :18:31.the muscle memory has come back pretty quickly. There seems to be a
:18:32. > :18:38.natural feeling for it. But you have not had the bike out yet? No. I have
:18:39. > :18:41.spoken to a few people about doing it, but I don't think my balance is
:18:42. > :18:52.good enough yet. OK. I know what Steven's ultimate
:18:53. > :18:56.aims are. They are big games involving running and cycling and
:18:57. > :19:04.swimming and so on. I have always been a big goal driven guy. Emma has
:19:05. > :19:08.identified that pretty well. I guess and aim for me would be for Steven
:19:09. > :19:17.to be walking more than he is using the chair. That is it initially.
:19:18. > :19:23.But if relapsing remitting MS is caught in time, could it be stopped
:19:24. > :19:29.in its tracks? Holly Drewery was just 21 when she was diagnosed.
:19:30. > :19:36.After giving birth to her daughter, Holly's condition deteriorated
:19:37. > :19:40.quickly. I couldn't walk steadily. I did not trust myself holding her in
:19:41. > :19:45.case I had a fall. I was a new mum and I wanted to do it all properly.
:19:46. > :19:51.The MS was stopping me from being able to do it. This all happened
:19:52. > :19:57.within a couple of months and then I had to get a wheelchair. I got worse
:19:58. > :20:04.and worse. I could not wash myself, I couldn't dress myself. It was
:20:05. > :20:10.scary because I thought, where is it going to end? Standard drug and
:20:11. > :20:20.blood treatments had failed for Holly. When I was in the hospital
:20:21. > :20:27.having the plasma exchange, Professor Sharrack said there is the
:20:28. > :20:31.stem cell option. The treatment costs ?30,000, no more than the
:20:32. > :20:41.yearly cost of some MS treatments which need to be taken for life.
:20:42. > :20:46.This is you when you were tiny. Holly had the experimental
:20:47. > :20:50.transplant and for her, the improvements were astonishing. I
:20:51. > :20:56.started seeing changes within days of the stem cells being put back in.
:20:57. > :21:02.I walked out of hospital, I walked into the house and cuddled Isla. I
:21:03. > :21:08.just cried. I just cried and hugged Isla. It was all a bit overwhelming.
:21:09. > :21:17.Was it all just a dream but I have done? Has the past month or so been
:21:18. > :21:24.a complete dream? Yes, a miracle. A miracle. It is now two years since
:21:25. > :21:29.Holly's stem cell transplants, and she has come back to review her
:21:30. > :21:36.progress. I will just show you this one. This was a scan we did in 2013.
:21:37. > :21:41.That was when you were about to have your treatment. Left untreated,
:21:42. > :21:48.areas of active inflammation would cause permanent damage. But now,
:21:49. > :21:52.they have all but disappeared. The good news, that is when we go to the
:21:53. > :21:59.last scan, this is the scan which was done a few days ago. You see all
:22:00. > :22:03.these little scars. You don't really see any evidence of disease which is
:22:04. > :22:08.really good news. Really, this is an indication that your MS is being
:22:09. > :22:13.quite dormant and you have not suffered further relapses. Yes.
:22:14. > :22:31.Hello! Holly's MS has been dramatically
:22:32. > :22:35.halted. She will need to be monitored for years but the hope is
:22:36. > :22:48.the transplant will be a permanent fix. When I was doing my training we
:22:49. > :22:56.had treatment for multiple sclerosis. To have a treatment which
:22:57. > :23:01.can potentially halt the diseases a good treatment. Louise needs to
:23:02. > :23:05.remain in isolation after having received her stem cells. She has
:23:06. > :23:13.used the time to plan for the future. We have decided to get
:23:14. > :23:18.married in a year off my transplant birthday, which is the 13th of
:23:19. > :23:24.October. And we have decided to get married in the village where we had
:23:25. > :23:31.our very first date. To see that transition from where she was to
:23:32. > :23:36.wear she is going is great. I think that first birthday for me, I will
:23:37. > :23:43.have got overall the hair loss, started to rebuild my life, and I
:23:44. > :23:55.will feel the full benefit of the transplant. After 18 days, Louise
:23:56. > :24:08.finally leaves the isolation unit. Look at you! You have changed. You
:24:09. > :24:12.look grown-up. I am not! You do, your hair has changed and everything
:24:13. > :24:28.and you are wearing your grown-up jumper! Give me a couple. -- give me
:24:29. > :24:36.a cuddle. I have missed you. Poll is back home, 12 days after his
:24:37. > :24:46.transplant. Are we going for a walk? That will get you excited, mate,
:24:47. > :24:54.won't it?? I will bang kettle on. I have noticed improvements in that.
:24:55. > :24:58.If I get to 100% improvement and recovery, I will be saying it is
:24:59. > :25:02.great, the best thing in the world. When I was having the treatment, it
:25:03. > :25:07.is quite intense and it does not queue. I would rather have done ten
:25:08. > :25:18.rounds with Mike Tyson than go through that. But I have done it.
:25:19. > :25:25.Ideally what the differences, you want to do a bit of walking. Before
:25:26. > :25:33.it was like, you know. You are walking a little bit better. It is a
:25:34. > :25:36.lot more effortless now. This is indeed a very potent
:25:37. > :25:41.treatment and time will tell whether it is a cure or not. We need to have
:25:42. > :25:47.longer-term follow-up which perhaps goes into decades before we can say
:25:48. > :25:52.cure. Here is to be year of dad being out
:25:53. > :25:58.of chemotherapy and being well and healthy and being a good dad. Steven
:25:59. > :26:03.has reached his first transplant birthday. He is out celebrating with
:26:04. > :26:10.his daughters. Cheers to that. A year ago I could
:26:11. > :26:14.not even hold a fork, I could not eat.
:26:15. > :26:20.Do you remember? Lets crack on. Stem cell
:26:21. > :26:24.transplantation for MS is experimental and the long-term
:26:25. > :26:31.results are unproven. But if the international trial, which Sheffield
:26:32. > :26:35.is a part of, is a success, then many more patients might be offered
:26:36. > :26:39.it in years to come. The day you get the stem cell jazz fusion is called
:26:40. > :26:45.Day zero. That was the previous part of your life. This is now days zero
:26:46. > :26:53.for the rest of your life -- the stem cell transfusion.
:26:54. > :26:57.I was in a very dire place, through 365 days of this pioneering
:26:58. > :27:02.treatment, to get from that point to being here, words cannot describe
:27:03. > :27:14.it. Good afternoon, Basil. Good
:27:15. > :27:23.afternoon. Hello, John. I will sit down there. This is marvellous. One
:27:24. > :27:29.year since your transplant. The last time you came in, you came in a
:27:30. > :27:34.wheelchair. You walked in today. Steven is showing the results of his
:27:35. > :27:44.most recent scan. You look hard and you see nothing. Really? You have
:27:45. > :27:49.walked in and this is mirrored by the scar not showing evidence of the
:27:50. > :27:52.disease. That is good to hear. I suppose you have heard about my
:27:53. > :27:57.surprise in the last few weeks as well. I was out with the girls and
:27:58. > :28:01.there was a cycle hire place. I went to speak to the guys who put the
:28:02. > :28:05.saddle on the lowest level, so I could stand on the bike without
:28:06. > :28:09.having to balance and I just pushed off. The first couple of feet were
:28:10. > :28:18.wobbly and really hard to get my balance. Go on, pedal, pedal, pedal!
:28:19. > :28:23.Within ten feet, my balance had recovered and I cycled all around
:28:24. > :28:28.the park. Cycling is something I can now do. I can swim, now cycle and
:28:29. > :28:34.hopefully walking is the next big step.