When Markas was just 23 months old, he was diagnosed with Pre B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), a type of blood cancer that affects immature white blood cells. ALL is the most common form of leukaemia in children, but despite advancements in treatment, it remains a challenging disease to battle.
Chemotherapy is a crucial part of treating ALL, but it comes with severe side effects. For Markas, one of these was Vocal Cord Palsy, which made breathing extremely difficult. Doctors had to perform a tracheostomy, creating an opening in his neck to help him breathe. During this time, his family provided round-the-clock care, with his father balancing work and hospital visits to bring essentials, comfort, and emotional support. On 22nd March 2023, after months of care and treatment, the tracheostomy was successfully removed—a small but significant victory in his battle against cancer.
Despite his initial progress, Markas’s leukaemia returned on 5th December 2023. The relapse was aggressive, and due to the high percentage of cancer cells, a bone marrow transplant was not an immediate option. Instead, doctors opted for CAR-T cell therapy on 26th February 2024. CAR-T cell therapy is an innovative approach where a patient’s own immune cells are genetically modified to attack cancer cells. The hope was that these modified cells would remain in Markas’ body to fight off the leukaemia long-term. However, in an unexpected setback, the CAR-T cells were lost early, just days after treatment, on 7th March 2024. The reason for this remains unknown, but the therapy had successfully eliminated detectable cancer cells.
With no remaining CAR-T cells to protect him, doctors determined that a bone marrow transplant was necessary to prevent the leukaemia from returning. On 23rd May 2024, Markas underwent a transplant, with his sister as the donor. She was overjoyed to be a match and play a direct role in saving her little brother’s life. Now, more than ten months post-transplant, Markas is thriving. His medical team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, including Michael Gatens, Gemma Barnard, and a dedicated team of nurses and consultants, played a critical role in his recovery. Today, there is no sign of cancer, and his journey stands as a testament to the power of modern medicine, family support, and resilience.
Markas’ story highlights the urgent need for better treatment options for children with leukaemia. This is where the ATICUS Network comes in, the network aims to revolutionise clinical trial access. The ATICUS Network provide children with potentially lifesaving new treatments that would otherwise be unavailable. It will focus on developing stem cell transplant trials, additionally, the network will fund specialist research nurses who connect children with the best possible treatment options and accelerate drug development, ensuring that promising new treatments are tested and made available to patients sooner.
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