Ideally, a clinical trial benefits both the patient and the medical researchers. That was exactly what happened with Gabryella “Gabby” McCraw, who in 2020 was diagnosed at Children’s of Alabama with B-lymphoblastic leukemia when she was eight years old.

During her initial screenings, it was discovered that Gabby had a genetic marker that placed her in a high-risk category. At that time, the standard of care for such a patient was to undergo chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant.

Instead, Gabby’s aunt Sheneka Frieson – who is Gabby’s legal guardian – was presented the option of having Gabby take part in a clinical trial involving the experimental medication blinatumomab. This approach required Gabby to wear a backpack-like devise that injected a continuous infusion of the medication for almost a month.

"The doctors were very thorough in breaking down what that journey would look like. The great thing … is that they are able to meet the children on their level and carefully explain everything to them and answer their questions. That gives them some comfort. There was never a time when we didn’t feel supported."

Sheneka Frieson

“The doctors were very thorough in breaking down what that journey would look like,” Frieson says. “The great thing about the doctors at Children’s is that they are able to meet the children on their level and carefully explain everything to them and answer their questions. That gives them some comfort. There was never a time when we didn’t feel supported.”

Gabby received the blinatumomab infusion for a month at a time on two separate occasions. Afterward, she was found to be cancer-free, eliminating the need for a bone marrow transplant. She continued to receive therapy under the parameters of the trial for another two years, but by all indications, the blinatumomab infusions eliminated the cancer within months.

Gabby was not alone. In fact, the overall trial proved to be so successful that it closed two years ahead of schedule. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2024, and blinatumomab became the standard of care for this type of childhood cancer.

“Gabby represents the best-case scenario for our pediatric patients participating in a clinical trial,” UAB pediatric medical oncologist Ana Xavier, M.D., says. “Thanks to Gabby and thousands of other patients who participated in this study, we know that this drug is highly efficient, so now we use it for all children under the same circumstances.

“We strive to enroll all patients in these types of studies because of examples like this one. We have an excellent survivor rate for our patients with leukemia, thanks to the participation of patients in clinical trials. There is no way to do pediatric oncology without clinical research.”

Gabby is now 14 years old, and Frieson says she is living life just like any other teenager, with no indications that she ever went through her cancer ordeal.

“I’m proud of Gabryella for being tenacious,” Frieson says. “And I’m very thankful for the team she came in contact with at Children’s, from the front desk to the doctors and nurses. I always tried to let Gabby know that this was a team effort. She might be the one who had to take the medicine and the treatment, but she was not alone. We all had to walk through that fire together. I’m so proud that she is able to live a healthy life now and be a normal child.”