10 Years of being Cancer-Free after CAR T-Cell therapy: Emily Whitehead

Emily Whitehead is quite a well-known person within the Cell & Gene Therapy industry. As a 5-year-old, Emily was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at Penn State Health in Pennsylvania. A few months after her diagnosis, her condition worsened so much that she was no longer eligible to receive a transplant.

It was around that time that the FDA had approved a Phase 1 clinical trial for CAR T-Cell Therapy in children. Faced with the peculiar situation, her family decided to enroll in the clinical trial. 23 days after treatment, a bone marrow test showed that all of the cancer was gone! 10 years later, Emily remains cancer-free which is amazing news for everyone & especially so for those who decide to preserve their baby’s cord blood & tissue.

Since Emily became the first pediatric CAR T-Cell therapy, her success paved the way for more than 15,000 others who have been treated with CAR T-Cell therapy. Learn more about Emily Whitehead’s story by checking out an article dedicated to her on People.com: https://people.com/health/teen-is-cured-from-cancer-after-groundbreaking-therapy-10-years-ago-its-a-miracle-im-alive/