Leonardo's campaign

Leonardo loves Ninjago Lego, skiing and his baby sister Arianna. When he is not in hospital, he likes nothing more than spending time with her.

In May 2022, Leonardo was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer that has a 40-50% chance of long-term survival at diagnosis.

Thanks to the incredible support for Leonardo's campaign, Leonardo and his family travelled to Rome in September 2023 so he could start to be treated using CAR T cell therapy with the hope of getting him into remission.

Leonardo’s story 

At three and a half years old, Leonardo started complaining about tummy ache, lost his appetite and was tired and lethargic. These symptoms lingered for weeks and only seemed to worsen. After many inconclusive trips to the GP and paediatricians, an ultrasound revealed a large mass in his abdomen.

In May 2022, Leonardo was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer. He started treatment straight away at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

Treatment so far 

Since his diagnosis, Leonardo has completed 14 months of gruelling treatment which has included chemotherapy, high-dose chemotherapy, surgery to remove the primary tumour (for which the family had to travel to France as the tumour was deemed inoperable by surgeons in the UK), five cycles of immunotherapy and 12 days of radiotherapy.

He has experienced several treatment related complications including requiring a second surgery to fix a small bowel obstruction following surgery to remove this tumour, veno-occlusive disease and countless side effects.

Next steps

As he came to the end of frontline treatment, the family were devastated to discover that the residual mass in Leonardo's abdomen was larger than expected, indicating that there may have been disease progression at some point since Leonardo had surgery.

Treating high-risk neuroblastoma successfully is particularly challenging. In Leonardo’s case, where his disease may have progressed, options available for treatment on the NHS become more limited. 

The family have been supported by their treating team and Solving Kids’ Cancer UK to identify the right treatment for Leonardo, with CAR T cell therapy in Rome identified as a promising next treatment step.

Thanks to the incredible support for Leonardo's campaign, Leonardo and his family are travelling to Rome in September 2023 so he can start to be treated using CAR T cell therapy with the hope of getting him into remission.

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_{Solving Kids' Cancer UK's children's fundraising campaigns} 

_{Funds raised will go towards helping Leonardo and his family. If Leonardo no longer needs the funds or is in remission five years post the end of successful treatment, the funds will be used to support other children and families affected by neuroblastoma through our activities. For children with high-risk neuroblastoma, like Leonardo, the survival rate is much lower than other childhood cancers. Upon relapse, this rate reduces even further.}