One-Year-Old Leukemia Baby's "Spark of Life" Saved by CAR-T... "Youngest Domestic Treatment"

Diagnosed with Leukemia at 2 Months Old
Lee Jua Visits Seoul Asan Hospital
Relapse After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant
Complete Remission Confirmed After CAR-T Therapy

The youngest domestic CAR-T therapy patient, baby Lee Joo-ah (center), is taking a commemorative photo with her family and her attending physician, Professor Lim Ho-joon of the Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Asan Medical Center, Seoul (left).
[Photo by Asan Medical Center, Seoul]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A child diagnosed with leukemia just 45 days after birth received the youngest chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy in Korea and rekindled the spark of life.

The CAR-T Center at Seoul Asan Medical Center Cancer Hospital announced on the 26th that leukemia was confirmed to be in 'complete remission' through CAR-T therapy this October for an 18-month-old baby, Lee Jua, a 1-year-old B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia patient whose leukemia had relapsed.

Jua was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a type of leukemia, just 45 days after her birth at the end of July last year. Leukemia is a disease in which normal blood cells in the bone marrow, the organ that produces blood in our body, transform into cancer cells and proliferate. The exact cause of occurrence is still unknown in modern medicine.

Professor Lim Ho-jun, Jua’s pediatric hematology-oncology attending physician, first administered chemotherapy and then transplanted hematopoietic stem cells that produce healthy blood from the mother to the baby in January this year. Although there were no side effects after the transplant, leukemia relapsed in August. The relapse rate after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is known to be about 20%. There was concern about the risk of serious side effects if chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation were attempted again.

The youngest patient in Korea to receive CAR-T therapy, baby Lee Joo-ah, is receiving a small Christmas gift from Professor Lim Ho-jun of the Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Asan Medical Center during an outpatient visit.

In April this year, insurance coverage was applied to the CAR-T therapy drug Kymriah, known as the 'miracle anticancer drug,' giving hope to Jua as well. Reports of CAR-T therapy being performed on leukemia patients under 1 year old are rare worldwide, but it was the only way to save the child. Professor Lim’s team administered CAR-T therapy to Jua in October this year.

As a result, bone marrow and minimal residual disease tests conducted in November, one month after treatment, showed complete remission of leukemia, and she has maintained a healthy condition without side effects to date. Professor Lim said, "If CAR-T therapy had not been covered by insurance, there would have been practically no other options, but fortunately, we were able to continue treatment by attempting CAR-T therapy." He added, "Since CAR-T therapy does not completely eliminate the possibility of relapse, we will do our best to ensure that Jua continues to receive safe treatment and can be showered with her mother and father’s love as she is now."

Jua’s father, Lee Byung-hoon, said, "I am very grateful to Jua for enduring treatment in the ward and intensive care unit without losing her smile. We received the greatest Christmas gift of health, and I hope she continues to grow up healthy as she is now." He also expressed, "During every treatment process, I felt like grasping at straws, but I sincerely thank the medical staff at Seoul Asan Medical Center who devoted themselves to Jua."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.