She was the first child treated with CAR-T, a therapy that engineers the immune system to fight cancer, at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 2012.
Emily Whitehead, 18, of Philipsburg, Pa., is a freshman at the University of Penn. She was the first successful pediatric recipient of CAR-T cancer therapy, which was developed at Penn.Emily Whitehead first came to the University of Pennsylvania campus as a six-year-old dying of terminal cancer. She left a medical celebrity — the first child cured of leukemia with an experimental therapy that represented a breakthrough for cancer treatment.
Her mother, Kari Whitehead, knew something was wrong when Emily woke up one night crying in pain for no apparent reason. The next morning, she brought Emily to the pediatrician, who sent them directly to the hospital. The treatment almost killed her by overstimulating her immune system and causing an uncontrolled inflammatory reaction. Within hours of her first infusion, Emily was having trouble breathing, her blood pressure was abnormal, and she’d spiked a fever.
Emily now wants to find ways to support cancer patients aside from retelling her own story time and again.Freshman year at Penn is the first time Emily can remember that “cancer” has not defined how people see her.
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