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Callan

A young man, Callan, with brown hair and eyes, sits on a stone step wearing a blue button-up shirt and dress pants and smiles at the camera.

After enduring intense treatments and a 10-hour surgery as a high school junior to treat a rare form of cancer, Callan currently has no evidence of disease and is a student of fine arts at the University of Texas.

Credit: National Cancer Institute
  • Student, University of Texas, Austin
  • Childhood Cancer Survivor

In October 2021, Callan began experiencing a mysterious pain in his neck. A talented artist and a good student, Callan had been looking forward to his junior year of high school. After also developing a cough, he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia, but later imaging showed a large tumor in his chest.

Multiple doctors told Callan the tumor, diagnosed as synovial sarcoma, was inoperable. Synovial sarcoma is often deadly without surgery, but his family eventually found a team willing to operate. Callan currently has no evidence of disease.

Callan’s father, Chas, knows few families have time and resources needed to seek different opinions, so he created a Facebook group called “Synovial Sarcoma Families,” which collects and shares data from members about their diagnosis, treatment, outcome, and care teams.

“I hope the group helps young people find information and studies that allow them to have agency over their disease,” Callan said.

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