Laura Bealer - Cancer Treatment Fundraiser

Hello,

Laura is a server at NCC and needs our help and support to help with medical and travel expenses.

She was diagnosed at the end of April 2022 with a neuroendocrine tumor of the pancreas with metastases to the liver. It is suspected that this is a "relapse" from cancer she had when she was younger (that was hepatoblastoma). Laura is am currently being treated at Lehigh Valley Cedar Crest at the Children's Oncology/Hematology clinic/ Children's Hospital. Since being diagnosed she underwent 4 rounds of chemotherapy, had tumor resection surgery at Nemours Children's Hospital in Dupont, underwent another 2 rounds of chemotherapy at LVH, and then went to Houston for a clinical trial at the beginning of January. The clinical trial was performed at Texas Children's Hospital and involved 3 days of immunosuppression chemotherapy, and a CAR T cell infusion. The CAR T cells are my her T cells (type of immune cell) that have been engineered to attack the cancer cells, since the cancer presents a specific antigen. It acts almost like a vaccine to a virus. She recently spent a month down in Houston for observation, and when she came home they did repeat scans and bloodwork. The scans were much approved and really only indicated one active liver lesion. However, through recent checkups she's had since they have determined that the tumor is growing again. They tested her blood and checked for AFP, which is a liver tumor marker, and it should be below 4. Right before she came home from Texas it was 30,000, a couple weeks ago it was 80,000 and this past week it was 115,000. They are doing an MRI to confirm what is going on, but she's noticed a firm circular area in her abdomen, and the lab value is somewhat alarming. They never gave her a prognosis, but before surgery they did tell me they would classify my tumor as stage 4 because of the size and that it's in two places.

We are raising funds to support Laura and her family on her April trip to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. Your support and generosity is greatly appreciated!