Meet Emily
“Becoming a cancer survivor is the best thing that ever happened to me, because now I can help create a future where no child ever has to endure what I went through and lose part of their childhood.”
Emily Whitehead was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at age five. “Being diagnosed at a young age was both a blessing and a curse, as today I do not remember most of my treatment, but I also did not get to have a typical childhood.” Emily says that she is reminded today of what her cancer journey was like through photos, videos, and what her parents have shared with her in recounting her story.
In 2012, Emily became the first child in the world to receive CAR-T cell therapy in a breakthrough clinical trial. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation-Stand Up To Cancer Pediatric Cancer Dream Team leveraged the success of Emily’s trial, and their work contributed to approval for the same treatment she received by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Thanks to this initial FDA approval, CAR-T cell therapies – which are less toxic than standard treatments – are now used widely for a number of cancers and have allowed many more children with ALL to become survivors.
Stand Up To Cancer’s success is measured in the months, years, and lifetimes given back to people with cancer and their families.
Today, Emily is cancer-free and attends college at Penn State University. “It feels surreal to say that I am now past the ten-year cancer-free mark. I have had so many amazing opportunities and experiences, like meeting other CAR-T patients in different countries, and I can’t wait to see what the next ten years of my life holds.”
Emily’s story has also been featured in Of Medicine and Miracles, a documentary detailing the incredible research that led to her survival. She is passionate about advocacy and raising awareness. “If there was as much awareness and innovation as there is today when I was diagnosed, I likely would have never had to endure those two years in the hospital,” she says. “Many people don’t think about cancer until it affects them, so it is important to spread the word of just how detrimental cancer is and also how much hope there is for curing it in the future.”
Our Mission
Stand Up To Cancer raises awareness and funds research to detect and treat cancers with the aspiration to cure all patients.
