Gavin Rowe

On New Year’s Day, 2010 four-year-old Gavin was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), and his family’s lives were forever changed. Prior to his diagnosis, Gavin had suffered from a cold that wouldn’t go away and recurrent ear infections. During the Christmas holidays, he had such a severe ear infection that he had to have surgery. Following this surgical procedure, Gavin was in recovery when a pediatric oncologist told his parents that 75 percent of the cells in his bone marrow were leukemia cells. Gavin had pre-B ALL. Gavin’s chemotherapy treatments began the next day.  The prognosis was very good, but the treatment process included 6-8 months of chemotherapy, followed by three years of “maintenance” chemotherapy. 

“Seeing your child strapped helplessly to a gurney while there is absolutely nothing you can do has to be one of the hardest things in the world,” his mother Kim said.

Gavin relapsed at age 9 and then again at 12, but in the end, it was CAR T Plus Therapy treatment that helped him get to where he is today.  Now, the total 8 years of treatment get further and further in the past as Gavin is now almost 7 years cancer-free!  Today, Gavin enjoys STEM, video games and golf and plans to attend Saddleback Community College next year.

The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation is pleased to have supported the early exploration of CAR T cell therapy and to fund ongoing science examining its use in hard-to-treat solid tumors.