Leanne Williams was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia while pregnant and had to terminate her pregnancy to begin treatment. After surviving the cancer and a near-fatal brain clot, she relapsed. She found hope in CAR-T cell therapy and a stem cell transplant from a German donor, achieving a second remission and a new lease on life.
A mother faced an unthinkable dilemma when she was diagnosed with aggressive cancer during her pregnancy, forced to choose between her own life and that of her unborn child.
In October 2017, Leanne Williams, then 39, discovered a large lump in her neck. After a blood test and a visit to A&E at Bristol Royal Infirmary, the lump continued to grow, she struggled to breathe, and new lumps appeared. A biopsy confirmed she had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), a rare cancer affecting the blood and bone marrow. She was told she needed immediate treatment and would have to terminate the pregnancy to survive.
"It's hard to put into words what it feels like to hear you have cancer, but hearing that while carrying a baby, there are no words," she said. "I was forced to make the impossible choice - my life or his. " She gave birth to a baby boy, Theo, three days after an induced coma, but he did not survive. Months of intense chemotherapy followed, during which she mourned her son.
She reached remission in February 2018, but treatment continued until October 2020. During this period, she lost the use of the right side of her body and developed a life-threatening blood clot on the brain. She was placed in an induced coma for five days, underwent surgery, and her family was told to say their goodbyes. After waking, she had to relearn basic movements, eating, and walking, then restarted chemotherapy.
"Eventually I restarted treatment, entered maintenance and slowly rebuilt a life I thought I'd lost," she said. "I reached the five-year mark post-diagnosis in November 2022, a huge milestone, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had my 'new normal'.
" However, one month later, she relapsed with more aggressive cancer. Further chemotherapy caused her hair to fall out within days, and by January 2023 she received devastating news that all treatments had failed. With two older children depending on her, she sought a last hope: CAR-T cell therapy at King's College Hospital in London in June 2023. CAR-T therapy is a personalised treatment that reprograms a patient's own immune cells to target cancer.
It is used for advanced blood cancers unresponsive to other treatments. After the CAR-T treatment, she was offered a stem cell transplant, which replaced her damaged blood cells with healthy ones from a donor, leading to a second remission. She later contacted her donor, Niklas from Germany, who expressed that donating felt "surreal" and emotionally invested. He wrote that knowing he helped a stranger was profound.
Leanne credits him with saving her life, allowing her to be there for her children. Her journey highlights the difficult choices faced by pregnant cancer patients, the breakthroughs in immunotherapies like CAR-T and stem cell transplantation, and the profound impact of anonymous donors
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Mother's 'Impossible Choice': Cancer Treatment, Pregnancy Loss, and a Second Chance Through Stem Cell DonationLeanne Williams faced an unbearable dilemma upon her acute lymphoblastic leukemia diagnosis during pregnancy: terminate to treat the cancer or risk her own life. After choosing treatment and losing her son Theo, she endured brutal chemotherapy, a near-fatal blood clot, and a relapse. Her survival ultimately hinged on a CAR-T cell therapy trial and a life-saving stem cell transplant from a German donor, Niklas. Her journey illustrates the profound challenges of aggressive blood cancers and the critical importance of advanced therapies and donation.
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