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Olivia

Girl in a blue dress with short hair held back with a headband, standing in a sunflower field with her family.

A cancer diagnosis at age 7 led to 5 years of treatment and 3 relapses for Olivia, who is now 17 years old and shows no sign of cancer.

Credit: National Cancer Institute

Childhood Cancer Survivor   

Olivia (she/her) and her family got the best present they could imagine on Christmas in 2019. “On Christmas Day, [my doctors] called to tell us that the treatments had worked,” Olivia said.  

Seventeen-year-old Olivia was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia when she was seven. Five years of treatment and three relapses later, she joined an NCI clinical trial that used CAR T-cell therapy. It worked, but participating in the trial meant staying at The Children’s Inn at NIH—and being away from home—during the holidays. Despite her illness, Olivia found ways to brighten the season for those around her at The Inn, like helping find presents for the younger kids.  

Now, a decade after diagnosis, Olivia shows no sign of cancer and is back to doing what she loves: baking, knitting, and being a kid. Her experiences provide insights that could help researchers treat other children, so they too can get back to just being kids.  

Read more about Olivia and her experience at The Children’s Inn in a story on The Inn’s page.  

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