Bayliss' Story: From Inoperable to Cancer-Free

If you talk to 10-year-old Bayliss now, you’d never suspect the San Antonio native once fought a life-threatening battle with stage 4 cancer. Now celebrating a year of being cancer-free, Bayliss showed incredible grace and resilience throughout her journey.

“The day Bayliss was diagnosed, I took her to the doctor for a stomachache,” recalled Bayliss’ mom, Annie. “By the end of the day, we found out it was stage 4 liver cancer. We were shocked.”

Charting a course in uncharted territory

Her family was further stunned to learn that Bayliss’ diagnosis, metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma, is exceedingly rare.

“Annually in the United States, less than 100 children under the age of 18 are diagnosed with this disease,” said Andras A. Heczey, MD, Director of the Liver Tumor Program at Texas Children’s Hospital. “So, this is a very rare tumor in children.”

Fortunately, the Liver Tumor Program at Texas Children’s is one of the largest in the country, with the team seeing a significant number of children with rare tumors.

When Bayliss was assessed, the doctors found that the tumor was too large to be removed, and her cancer had already spread to both lungs. After undergoing a few rounds of chemotherapy at their local hospital in San Antonio, her family turned to Texas Children’s to remove Bayliss’ lung tumors.

Despite the grim prognosis, talking with the Texas Children’s team gave her parents hope for the first time.

“From that first conversation, the team extended hope past what we could see,” Annie said. “Because her cancer was so rare, it was important to us to have a team that had the right experience.”

Dr. Heczey adds, “Despite this being a very rare tumor in children, our team has expertise caring for children with this diagnosis. Also, as part of one of the world’s largest children’s hospital, we have access to the full range of subspecialty expertise – which is key for treating complex cases like Bayliss’.”

“Because of these considerations, there were only 3 hospitals in the U.S. to even consider,” Annie said.
 

The power of pioneering care

The Liver Tumor Program is distinguished not only by the large number of children the team sees, but also by its multidisciplinary approach. The program brings together a group of pediatric specialists, including oncologists, interventional radiologists, surgical oncologists, pathologists and transplant surgeons.

This team approach holds the key for unlocking the best care. In addition to Dr. Heczey, the specialists that were vital to Bayliss’ care included 
Dr. Kalyani Patel, who confirmed her initial diagnosis and histologic response to chemotherapy; Dr. Prakash Masand, who helped to stage the cancer, measure her response to subsequent therapies and plan surgeries; Dr. Kamlesh Kukreja who performed the transarterial radioembolization and Dr. Sanjeev Vasudevan, who surgically removed tumors from liver and lung.

Every few weeks, she and her family made the trip from San Antonio to Houston and back for treatment. Remarkably, what Bayliss remembers most is having fun during her treatments.

“I looked forward to coming to Houston,” she said while drawing. “I liked doing arts and crafts. I even painted a picture of one of the facility dogs.”

“It sounds funny to say, but we actually did have fun,” Annie added, smiling. “Being with other kids going through the same thing helped.”
 

Still, Bayliss’ tumor wasn’t responding to treatment, and treatment options were dwindling. But giving up wasn’t an option for Bayliss or her team. Given her rare diagnosis and lack of response to treatment, her doctors talked with the family about trying a newer drug— pembrolizumab—which had been evaluated in adults with hepatocellular carcinoma, but its effectiveness in children was unknown. Almost immediately, her team started to see the results they had been hoping for.

“When we started her on pembrolizumab, Bayliss had fluid in her abdomen, abnormal liver and kidney functions and she was really frail. Within a week, she started improving on all fronts,” Dr. Heczey said. “I will always remember calling her mom for a quick check-in a few days after starting the treatment and her saying that Bayliss felt better than she had in months. It was incredible to hear.”

“Dr. Heczey was almost giddy,” Annie said with a laugh. “It was truly a miracle.”

Today, Bayliss is cancer-free. She currently sees her team for checkups every month and will soon move to every 2 months. Although Bayliss excelled academically at home throughout her treatment with the help of her teacher, she was thrilled to be able to return to school and see her friends every day. Her parents urge others to bring their children to Texas Children’s if they need care.

“At Texas Children’s you can see many specialists, fast,” Annie said. “I always tell people just go see what they say. There has not been one team we didn’t have a good experience with.”

Learn more about Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center.