The Quick & Dirty

Here is how I’d tell it if you gave me 5 minutes:

At 6½ years old, January 2019, Beaudin was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and began treatment at Children’s Hospital of Colorado following the COG 9032 protocol. We slowly found our footing in the long, demanding course of therapy.

In November 2020—20 months into 26 months of treatment—he relapsed in his spinal fluid, sending us back into uncertainty. A CNS-only, early relapse. He underwent bridge chemotherapy with bi-monthly intrathecal triple lumbar punctures while continuing daily at-home maintenance chemo (6MP and methotrexate) until March 2021, when we traveled to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to enroll in a CAR T-cell Therapy clinical trial using Kymriah. The initial CAR T-cells did not hold, with B-cells showing return by day 28.

We did not use any chemotherapy/intervention between the CAR T in March and the HuCAR T in August, though we did surveil with LP’s to ensure no evidence of disease.

In August 2021, he participated in a second trial using humanized CAR T-cells (HuCAR T). The cells held for four months before fading. Because they had showed mild promise, he had a HuCAR T-cell “boost” in January 2022 (month 5 after initial HuCAR T). The boost did not work, and full b-cell return continued.

With no clear next scientific pathway, both CHOP and CHCO recommended bone marrow transplant. This didn’t feel right to us as by that point he was over 1-year with no evidence of disease. We were not sure it was a cure, but we chose a watch-and-wait approach, figuring any time off a BMT path would allow him to grow strong and ready for what came next.

What came next was nothing but healing. As of January 2026, Beaudin remains cancer-free, healthy, and strong!