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FDA panel recommends approval for cancer treatment first received by State College girl

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(Harrisburg) — A Food and Drug Adminstration panel recently recommended approval of a groundbreaking cancer treatment that started with a young girl in the midstate.

Emily Whitehead was the first person in the world to get the immunotherapy.

Whitehead, from State College, got the treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2012.

Doctors took T-cells, which usually fight infection, and trained them to attack cancer cells.

Whitehead’s leukemia – one of the most common forms for children – was eventually wiped out.

Speaking on NPR’s Here and Now, Emily, who is now 12 years old, says the therapy made all the difference for her.

“I just tell people that it helps kids to have a good life after they’re done with the medicine, so they can do fun things like I’m doing today,” says Whitehead.

60 kids at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are now getting the therapy, and researchers hope to soon try it on cancers that create solid tumors.

Speaking on Here and Now, Kari Whitehead, Emily’s mom, says they’re trying to boost everyone up.

“It’s just incredible. I mean, everybody was in the same situation that we were in. They were told that their child was completely out of options and so we know exactly how they feel going into it. Hearing about Emily’s story gives them a lot of hope,” she says.

However, researchers say the treatment is usually only used when chemo doesn’t work, and it can have some severe side effects.

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