Abbe Pannucci

Abbe Pannucci was diagnosed with stage 4 embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, aged 10, in November 2010. The tumour was located on the abdominal wall with metastatic lesions on the pelvic bones and sacrum. Abbe was treated at Children’s National Hospital, Washington DC.

She received 54 weeks of vincristine, irinotecan, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, ifosfamide, etoposide and dactinomycin. After round 19 of chemotherapy, the shrunk tumour was surgical removed. Abbe was then given five weeks of radiation therapy to each of the metastatic locations, at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Abbe is now 23 years old and has been cancer free for over a decade. She lives with the side-effects of the treatment she received.