Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Beaudin's Story

Beaudin Larrabee 

Longmont, Colorado
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
CAR T-cell Therapy in 2021 
 

Beaudin Larrabee appears to be an average teenager: an avid baseball fan, perpetually outgrowing his shoes, and completely devoted to his dog, Hatchet. But in fact he is far from average.

In December 2018, when Beaudin was six years old, a stretch of unexplained fevers that first appeared to be a bad cold led to bloodwork and an urgent trip to the children’s hospital. After additional testing, his doctors confirmed a diagnosis no family expects to hear: acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Beaudin began standard-risk treatment and initially responded exactly as hoped. Treatment was long and hard, but his family was hopeful that this would be a blip on the radar, a short season to navigate. Unfortunately, in November 2020, with just 4 months of treatment remaining, a routine lumbar puncture revealed abnormal white blood cells in his spinal fluid, signaling a CSF (EM) relapse. Facing the prospect of another two years of intensified chemotherapy and cranial radiation, his family began searching for alternatives.

Beaudin enrolled in a CAR T-cell therapy clinical trial at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In March 2021 he received CAR-T therapy, and later that year he received HuCART cells through a second study. His family traveled regularly from Colorado to Philadelphia for treatment making over 20 trips across the country for participation and trial follow-up between 2021-2026.

Because of the nature of trial medicine, the idea of a “cure” was never a clean milestone in Beaudin’s case. But in 2026, five years after his last intervention, his family has stepped into that world with cautious gratitude.

Today Beaudin is a teenager and more than five years cancer-free. As he grows into survivorship, he has begun thoughtfully sharing his experience alongside his mother, writer and advocate Betsy Larrabee. Like most teenagers, he prefers spending his time with friends, playing baseball, and enjoying the ordinary rhythms of life that once felt uncertain.

You can read more about Beaudin and his family’s story at theheavywait.com.