Emily “Emma” Whitehead
2010
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Leukemia
Emma Whitehead, 7, from Philipsburg, Pa., has been in full remission from acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL] she has suffered since she was 5, after scientists used a disabled form of the AIDS virus to genetically reprogram her immune system to kill cancer cells. Initial funding for the research that went into developing this treatment was provided by Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy.
Back in 2004, ACGT provided initial funding for the pioneering gene therapy research of Dr. Carl June of the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. The research led to a therapy that uses the body’s own T-cells and turns them into weapons aimed directly at cancer.
Dr. Carl June, twice an ACGT Fellow and a member of our Scientific Advisory Council, used the same T-cell treatment he had been using on adult patients.
See more:
Greenwich Time/Stamford Advocate Story
Gene Therapy Scores Big Wins Against Blood Cancers, Associated Press