Surviving Leukemia and Using Humor to Heal
- Actress and comedian Vanessa Bayer, 43, lands a role in “Freakier Friday,” the sequel to “Freaky Friday,” premiering in August. Bayer, who was diagnosed with leukemia – a type of blood cancer – as a teenager, has not shied away from bringing her cancer experience to her acting roles.
- Bayer battled acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) specifically at age 15. She underwent intense chemotherapy to reach remission. Her cancer journey shaped her perspective and career path.
- Bayer used humor as a tool for healing and connection, explaining that joking around helped her stay grounded and reminded loved ones she hadn’t changed despite her diagnosis.
- Multiple FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapies are now available for blood cancers, including lymphomas, various forms of leukemia, and, most recently, multiple myeloma.
- Dubbed a “living drug,” CAR T-cell therapy reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells.
- Doctors reengineer a patient’s immune system by drawing blood and separating the T-cells. Then, using a harmless virus, the T-cells are genetically engineered to produce proteins called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on their surface. These receptors enable the cells to recognize and attach to a matching protein, called an antigen, on the tumor cell, just as a key fits into a lock. The process primes the T-cell to recognize the cancer and to fight it.
“Get Freaking ready,” Bayer wrote on Instagram, teasing the film’s August premiere with signature enthusiasm.
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Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia is not a cancer that’s passed down from parents to children, says Dr. Oluwole.
“If there happens to be a pattern in a certain family, many times that may be because they were in the same environment. ‘I got exposed to the same thing, right?’ So it is not necessarily something that is heritable or like some of the other cancers, some of the other genes that we know about, things like breast cancer, ALL is not like that,” Dr. Oluwole explained.
WATCH: The genetics of acute myeloid leukemia.
She channeled her cancer experience into her work, co-creating I Love That For You, a television series centered around a girl facing cancer. The show drew directly from Bayer’s own journey, serving as a way to explore how humor and hardship can intersect.
“I mean, for me, when I got sick, obviously, there were really difficult parts. But I did always really like attention, which is why I think I have the job I have now,” Bayer told Vanity Fair.
“Those are aspects of these difficult experiences that we don’t often focus on. I think we all thought it would be really fun to kind of focus on that.”
Leaning into comedy became more than a career choice—it was a lifeline.
“I think that sometimes when people get sick or go through any kind of trauma, it’s like their friends and family think they’re a different person. It’s scary for them,” she explained.
“I think that joking around about it reminded my friends and everybody that I was still the same person. The whole laughing-about-it thing was so healing…. I honestly think it’s probably why I went into comedy.”
Her cancer went into remission before her final year of high school, but the impact of that period hasn’t faded. Instead, it continues to inform her creative voice and connect her more deeply with audiences.
Whether through sketch comedy, scripted television, or big-screen roles, Bayer’s journey proves that laughter can coexist with pain—and sometimes, it’s the very thing that helps us survive it.
Expert Resources on Leukemia
- “Game Changing” New Treatment Gives Hope to Relapsed “CLL” Leukemia Patients
- “Potentially Curative” New Drug Could Help Thousands Of People With Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
- A Better Medication For Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia & Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma: Zanubrutinib
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)–An Overview of Initial Treatment
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML): Treatment Options After Relapse
- All About Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Answers to the Most Common Questions About the Disease
Understanding Leukemia and Its Various Types
Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that originates in the bone marrow and leads to the overproduction of abnormal white blood cells. These cells can crowd out healthy ones and interfere with the body’s ability to fight infection, carry oxygen, and prevent bleeding.
Leukemia is categorized based on:
- Progression speed:
- Acute leukemia involves immature cells and progresses rapidly.
- Chronic leukemia affects mature cells and develops more slowly.
- Cell origin:
- Myeloid leukemia arises from cells that form red blood cells, platelets, and certain white blood cells.
- Lymphocytic leukemia affects cells that become lymphocytes, a type of immune cell.
- Main Subtypes of Leukemia: Here are four key forms:
- Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) – Fast-growing; starts in immature myeloid cells; aggressive and serious
- Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) – Slow-growing; affects mature myeloid cells; less aggressive than AML
- Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) – Rapid progression; begins in immature lymphocytes; common in children
- Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) – Slow progression; develops from mature lymphocytes; more common in older adults
It’s important to note that chronic forms of leukemia tend to be less aggressive but may require longer treatment periods compared to acute types.
Symptoms & Diagnosis
Signs vary by leukemia type and can depend on the patient’s age, medical history, and disease stage. Common symptoms may include:
- Fatigue and weakness
- Frequent infections
- Easy bruising or bleeding
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Bone pain
- Unexplained weight loss
How Car T-cell Therapy Offers Hope for Some Blood Cancer Patients
CAR T-cell therapy transforms a patient’s own immune cells into powerful cancer fighters. The journey begins with T-cells—white blood cells that help the immune system detect and destroy threats like viruses and cancer. Once collected from the patient’s blood, these cells are sent to a lab, where scientists use an inactivated virus to insert new genetic instructions.
These new genes teach the T-cells to produce special surface proteins known as receptors, allowing them to better recognize cancer cells. The modified cells are then multiplied in large numbers and infused back into the patient.
WATCH: The Value of CAR T-Cell Therapy for Patients.
Once inside the body, these re-engineered T-cells go to work, locking onto matching proteins—called antigens—on cancer cells and attacking them directly.
Dr. Siddhartha Ganguly, Carol Cockrell Curran Distinguished Centennial Chief in Hematologic Oncology at Houston Methodist Hospital and Neal Cancer Center, compares this cutting-edge therapy to a classic video game.
“CAR-T therapy aims to give ‘eyes’ to the T-cells. We remove the T-cells from the body by a blood draw, send them to the lab, and insert an anti-cancer gene before infusing them back into the patient. This gene allows the T-cell to ‘see’ the cancer cells… They will seek out the cancer and kill it, much like the video game Pacman,” Dr. Ganguly told SurvivorNet.
He notes that while CAR T-cell therapy, like many treatments, comes with possible side effects, it offers substantial hope for patients facing hard-to-treat blood cancers like advanced lymphoma and multiple myeloma.
A Deeper Look Into the Reengineering Process
Doctors reengineer a patient’s immune system with CAR T-cell therapy by first drawing blood and separating out the T-cells.
Then, using a harmless virus, the T-cells are genetically engineered to produce proteins called chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) on their surface. These receptors enable the cells to recognize and attach to a matching protein, called an antigen, on the tumor cell, just as a key fits into a lock. The process primes the T-cell to recognize the cancer and to fight it.
Next, the modified cells are multiplied into the millions in a laboratory.
The CAR T-cells are specific to your cancer. For example, some types of lymphoma cells have the antigen CD19 on their surface. CAR T-cell therapies for those cancer types only target the CD19 antigen.
A few days before the infusion, you’ll get chemotherapy to clear out some of your immune cells and prime your body to receive the CAR T-cells. This will help the CAR T-cells work better.
Finally, the modified T-cells will be infused back into your body to hunt down the cancer.
Several FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapies are currently in use, including:
- Abecma (idecabtagene vicleucel)
- Breyanzi (lisocabtagene maraleucel)
- Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel)
- Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel)
- Tecartus (brexucabtagene autoleucel)
- Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel)
These therapies are used to treat various blood cancers, such as certain leukemias, lymphomas, and, more recently, multiple myeloma.
What’s the Effectiveness of CAR T-cell Therapy?
CAR T-cell therapy has delivered promising outcomes for patients with certain blood cancers, showing response rates as high as 80% in cases where other treatments have failed. For individuals with lymphoma, more than 54% of those treated with the FDA-approved therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel (Yescarta) and 40% of those who received tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) achieved a complete response, meaning no detectable cancer remained.
Remarkably, among those treated with Yescarta, 40% remained in remission an average of 15 months following their infusion.
Typically, patients who receive CAR T-cell therapy have already had at least two previous treatments, often including rituximab (Rituxan) with chemotherapy and high-dose chemotherapy.
“Some of these patients had three, four, or five prior lines of therapy, and we were able to save their lives,” said Dr. Stephen Schuster, director of the Abramson Cancer Center’s lymphoma program, in an interview with SurvivorNet.
Medical research has shown response rates of between 80 and 100 percent. “It’s really unprecedented. This is something we had never seen before for patients who have had six or seven prior lines of therapy,” says Dr. Nina Shah, a hematologist with the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.
CAR T-Cell Therapy Side Effects
CAR T-cell therapy is a form of cancer treatment that differs from traditional chemotherapy in a significant way: it generally doesn’t cause hair loss or nausea. But like any powerful treatment, it comes with its own set of side effects.
As CAR T-cells multiply in the body, they release inflammatory proteins called cytokines. This can trigger a condition known as cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which may cause symptoms like high fever, weakness, chills, and low blood pressure. Another potential side effect involves neurological changes, which can lead to confusion or a decreased sense of awareness.
WATCH: CAR T-Cell Therapy Side Effects
When side effects do appear, the most common and least severe is fatigue.
“That’s very normal, and it usually resolves in the first month,” says hematologist Dr. Nina Shah.
However, CRS can sometimes be more serious. It occurs when the therapy causes a surge of cytokines—tiny immune-signaling proteins—to flood the bloodstream. This response can bring on a range of symptoms, from mild flu-like effects to more severe reactions.
Typical CRS symptoms include headache, fever, chills, scratchy throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, joint or muscle pain, and extreme fatigue. In more serious cases, it can cause shortness of breath, low blood pressure, or a rapid heart rate. While most patients experience only mild to moderate reactions, it’s important to note that CRS can, in rare instances, become life-threatening.
Currently, scientists aren’t sure whether the side effects correlate with how well the treatment is working, so it’s difficult to tell patients whether their side effects or lack of them are a good or bad thing. “All I can say is that every patient is different, and every patient has a different course,” says Dr. Shah.
Data shows that the quality of life for people who have undergone CAR T-cell therapy “actually improves when we talk about pain, fatigue, and emotional and social functioning. And so, whether or not you experience side effects, we hope that this therapy will improve your quality of life,” says Dr. Shah.
If you’re considering CAR T-cell therapy, talk with your doctor about all potential side effects—the mild, the serious, and everything in between.
Treatment doesn’t end once you’ve received the CAR T-cell infusion. “They typically have to be monitored very carefully after that for a number of weeks or even months, due to some of the potential side effects,” Dr. Julie Vose, chief of hematology/oncology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet.
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