NEW CANCER TRIAL SAVES THRIVING’ ERIN, 6
A SIX-year-old schoolgirl is “happy and thriving” after a gene therapy trial wiped out her cancer.
Erin Cross was told a year ago her deadly acute lymphoblastic leukaemia had returned.
Her parents raised £150,000 after appearing on ITV’s This Morning and last July she flew to Seattle, US, for the new treatment.
Experimental AR (Chimaeric Antigen Receptor) T-Cell therapy re-engineers white blood cells to kill cancer cells when they are injected back into the body.
Yesterday Erin’s parents Sarah and Antony Cross revealed it had totally “wiped out” the cancer – and a successful stem cell transplant has meant it can never return.
Addressing Erin’s legion of fans on Facebook, they wrote: “Today marks a year since Erin relapsed.
“But with the amazing help from many people in our community and the skill of Erin’s doctors and nurs- es in Manchester, Liverpool and Seattle she is happy and thriving.
“She is full of energy and wants to play, learn and have fun all day!”
First diagnosed in 2012, she beat her cancer, only for it to return in March last year. Doctors said her only hope was the US trial.
Last June Sarah went on This Morning and told of their struggles to conceive Erin, having seven rounds of IVF, and how hard it hit them when Erin relapsed. While in the US Erin, of Chester, suffered a seizure and stopped breathing, before a medic saved her life. But the therapy worked and by September she was in remission.
In February Erin met Simon Cowell and Ant and Dec as a special guest on Britain’s Got Talent.
Sarah said: “I’m so glad I pushed for her to get on the Seattle trial. If I hadn’t she wouldn’t be here today. I just want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts.”