It all started with simple back pain. This was nothing alarming for a 20-year-old student. Until a diagnosis came to upset his life: acute lymphoblastic leukemia was infiltrating his bone marrow. It is the most common childhood cancer.
Dylan Lamb, a student living in the United Kingdom, has just testified in the British press in order to raise awareness of the leukemia. Diagnosed at the age of 20, he had consulted following lower back pain. The international business student just thought he strained a muscle.
Despite the painkillers provided by his GP, the pain became less and less bearable. On April 28, 2022, her life changed when a blood test revealed an abnormality in her white blood cells. Additional tests made it possible to diagnose a acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Three days later, Dylan Lamb was undergoing his first chemotherapy.
What is acute lymphoblastic leukemia?
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is the pediatric cancer the most common, but it can also affect adults of all ages. It involves the malignant transformation and uncontrolled proliferation of a cell which can lead to massive infiltration of the bone marrow. Symptoms include weakness, paleness, infections, bone pain, headache, bruising and bleeding.
Dylan’s treatment included chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.
” The effect of this treatment on Dylan’s body and mental health was devastating. His face is swollen due to high doses of steroids, his stomach extremely bloated due to the swelling of his internal organs, preventing him from sleeping “Laments the aunt of the young man, Kelly Payne.
“He was told he had weeks or months to live”
In remission since July 5, 2022, Dylan has had to deal with a recurrence in June 2023.” The lower back pain came back and he said he knew that pain and it felt familiar. He went back to his doctors at Nottingham Hospital and asked them to examine him says Phoebe, Dylan’s girlfriend.
” He was told the leukemia had returned and he had weeks or months to live “.
Today, the only solution for Dylan would be life-saving treatment. This is a clinical test available in the United States: it is called CAR T therapy. It is a form ofimmunotherapy which consists of designing a unique treatment for each patient using their own T lymphocytes.
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are essential killer cells in your body for your immune response against viruses and cancers.
The only downside: the treatment would be estimated over £500,000 (€582,401.14). Dylan’s family then started an online fundraiser to raise enough money for Dylan to travel to America and get the treatment.