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Nemours One Of Few Centers Offering Targeted Radiation Therapy To Treat Children With Deadly Liver Cancer

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A cancer treatment for adults is now being successfully used to treat children with a deadly kind of liver cancer.

Blakleigh Lipe, 4,  doesn't know she's a trailblazer. She's busy enjoying her life after receiving a revolutionary cancer treatment at Nemours duPont Hospital for Children.

"It was very hard but I knew that Blakleigh was in wonderful hands with the set of doctors there. They were so amazing to us," said Kasi Camden, Blakleigh mom.

Blakleigh and her family live in Murphysboro, Illinois. This is where she was first diagnosed with liver cancer last year, and it didn't respond to chemotherapy.

The family was out of options when they were accepted for a new treatment being used at Nemours in Wilmington

"He said we're ready to get this sea monster out of Blakleigh," Camden said.

Called TARE-Y90, the treatment targets radioactive micro beads directly to the tumor site.

"We were able to shrink the tumor enough so that she was able to be resected," said Dr. Allison Aguado with Nemours duPont Hospital for Children.

Aguado says the tumor was successfully removed from Blakleigh.

She was the lead author of a new study that shows the therapy can be safely used in children.

"It has been FDA approved for about 20 years and is used very frequently in adults and we're just starting to use it in children," said Aguado.

Blakleigh who was treated last year is now cancer free. Her family is grateful like they were when they first heard Nemours was will to try

"Jumping up and down and screaming and crying we were calling everybody it was a bittersweet moment to even say the least," said Camden.

Blakleigh was the first to get the treatment at Nemours. They had a second patient last week who's also doing well. Nemours is one of the only a few centers in the country offering this therapy for children.

 

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