On Thursday, June 23, 2022, Emily Whitehead, an acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivor, will take over the Cancer Research Institute Instagram account (@CancerResearchInstitute) and share her journey as the first child to receive CAR T cell therapy—and now ten years cancer-free.
Emily Whitehead was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in May 2010 when she was five years old. After standard treatments failed, her parents, Tom and Kari, enrolled her in a phase 1 clinical trial at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Her T cells were collected, genetically reprogrammed to recognize and attack cancer cells, and infused back into Emily’s blood. The treatment worked and Emily recently celebrated her 10th year cancer-free.
The Whitehead family continue to tell their story to educate and inspire other families, through the Whitehead Foundation, their book Praying for Emily: The Faith, Science, and Miracles that Saved Our Daughter, and the upcoming documentary Of Medicine and Miracles.
Follow the Whitehead Foundation on Instagram or visit their website to learn about how immunotherapy is used to treat childhood cancer.
Visit our Twitter account @CancerResearch or follow along with the hashtag #CIM22.
