Little Girl Thrives After Life-Changing Cancer Therapy

Quick Smiles:

• Bryn Ailinger overcame a rare aggressive leukemia with help from innovative CAR T-cell therapy.
• The advanced treatment resulted in her being cancer-free and able to enjoy Christmas at home.
• Doctors at Roswell Park highlight CAR T-cell therapy for its effectiveness and gentle impact on young patients.

Christmas 2025 is full of hope and gratitude for the Ailinger family, as their daughter Bryn enjoys a healthy holiday after conquering a previously untreatable form of childhood cancer. In 2024, Bryn spent her Christmas in a pediatric cancer ward, facing precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia with a mutation resistant to standard treatments.

“You think the worst immediately,” said Justin Ailinger, Bryn’s father. “I didn’t know if I was going to have a daughter by the end of the year.”

After presenting CAR T-cell cancer therapy as a new option, Bryn’s care team at Roswell Park offered hope. Thanks to this Nobel Prize-winning treatment, Bryn gained many brighter days ahead.

“I look at her, and I see a miracle,” said Meghan Higman, MD, PhD, a pediatric oncologist at Roswell Park. “That’s because this kid five years ago wouldn’t have been alive, and now she’s alive, thriving and just, wow.”

Dr. Higman and her team recommend CAR T-cell therapy to suitable young patients for its safety and success rate compared to traditional chemotherapy. The treatment involves modifying a patient’s immune cells to better fight cancer before infusing them back into the body. This method is delivered at Roswell Park’s leading-edge cell manufacturing facility, one of the largest in the nation.

“Chemotherapy is so toxic,” said Ajay Gupta, also a pediatric oncologist at Roswell Park. “We’re trying to make it so that patients have a better quality of life even after they’re done with treatment. And so I feel strongly that approaches that can change the immune system, like CAR T-cells, can actually do this without causing long-term side effects.”

The success rate is remarkable, with leukemia gone in more than 80% of patients after CAR T-cell therapy. The program is working to make this treatment available for more cancer types in the future, including rare tumors and brain cancers, so that more families can experience happy holidays together.

“I hope for other children that have this mutation pop up that they’re able to collaborate with Dr. Higman and the others, and try these same therapies that were successful for Bryn,” Ailinger said. “I hope that she’s able to help save lives for other children as well that go through this.”

Wishing more families moments of joy and healing, inspired by Bryn’s remarkable journey and the caring professionals behind her recovery.

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