Emily Whitehead’s Story
Emily Whitehead was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in May 2010 when she was five years old.
Typically, children diagnosed with this type of leukemia have an 85% to 90% chance of being cured; however, she relapsed twice. The leukemia became resistant to treatment and her doctors exhausted all treatment options. They recommended hospice care and expected her to live for only a few more weeks.
Emily’s parents, Tom and Kari, were not willing to give up. They heard about an experimental treatment, called CAR T-cell therapy, that was available as a Phase I clinical trial at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). In April 2012, they enrolled Emily in the clinical trial, and she was the first pediatric patient in the world to receive CAR T-cell therapy. The process involved collecting her T-cells (a type of white blood cell), genetically reprogramming them to recognize and attack cancer cells, and infusing the modified cells back into Emily’s blood. The treatment was highly experimental, but it was Emily’s only chance for a cure. Incredibly, the T-cell therapy worked, and Emily has remained cancer-free.
Emily’s treatment gained worldwide attention, and her story has been featured in The New York Times and Ken Burns’ PBS documentary Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies. A 3-minute documentary about her treatment, called Fire with Fire, was created by Oscar-winning director Ross Kauffman. Recently, the Whitehead’s published a book about their journey called Praying for Emily: The Faith, Science, and Miracles that Saved Our Daughter. A full-length documentary, called Of Medicine and Miracles, premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.
Tom, Kari, and Emily speak internationally to share Emily’s story and to raise awareness for CAR T-cell therapy and childhood cancer research.
Emily Whitehead Foundation Mission
Emily Whitehead’s family experienced firsthand how cancer research is saving lives; however, children are still losing their lives every day because of limited treatment options for high-risk patients like Emily.
Children who have their cancer return are harder to treat because their cancer becomes resistant to standard therapies. Cutting edge treatments like CAR T-cell therapy are needed to help cure these children but funding is limited. Childhood cancer receives less than 4% of the National Cancer Institute budget for research. Many researchers rely on grants from non-profit organizations and private donors who are dedicated to raising funds for childhood cancer research.
Their focus is on funding the most promising research such as the CAR T-cell therapy that Emily received and other immunotherapies. They will continue sharing Emily’s story to promote awareness and inspire others to take action and make a difference.
The only thing they asked for throughout Emily’s treatment were prayers to help her get through each day, but they received so much more from people around the world. They are thankful for every day they spend with Emily. We believe in a cure. Let’s join together to end cancer!
