Manchester mother 'over the moon' at son's US cancer trial success

The mother of a five-year-old boy who travelled to the US for cancer treatment has said she is "over the moon" after he was given the "all-clear" on a number of tests.

Dillan, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in May 2020, had relapsed four times after treatment in the UK.

His mum, Amy, from Manchester, started fundraising when she was told a US clinical trial was his "only hope".

She said the family have now got "the big result we were looking for".

"It worked," she said. "He did it. We did it."

She said for the first time ever her family could imagine returning to "normal life" with their "most precious, kind, amazing, funniest little boy".

She first made a public appeal for help in September 2022 to find Dillan a bone marrow donor.

Her plea was supported by celebrities including actor Michelle Keegan, TV personality Mark Wright and Manchester City footballer John Stones who shared Dillan's appeal online.

After a donor was found Dillan went on to have two bone marrow transplants but relapsed after both.

Dillan was told there were no more treatment options in the UK but there was a clinical trial for an immune therapy treatment taking place in Washington.

The family's Go Fund Me page has raised over £585,000.

Amy said: "Everyone who donates, fundraises and continues to support us and share our story, I can't thank you enough."

"With all of the horror going on in the world right now, I'm so glad that through Dillan's journey it has shown that there is some kindness and compassion in the world."

In September, Dillan and his family flew out to Washington where he began the trial of a new type of Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, which is only licenced in the US.

Following weeks of treatment, the latest test results showed blood, bone marrow and spinal fluid tests as clear of cancer.

"It was his only option and his only hope. I don't listen to statistics or percentages of success anymore, I live in the moment, "Amy said.

"Every cancer case is different, I've always stayed positive about it and I knew this treatment had to work."

The family will return to the UK next week where Dillan will undergo another bone marrow transplant from a donor who has already been found.

Amy appealed to people to continue supporting Dillan, adding: "When we return from the US we have three months in hospital in the UK before we can go back to normal family life for the first time ever."

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