Otago researchers solve Dunedin child's eight years of unnecessary chemotherapy mystery
Otago researchers have solved a decades-long mystery - that saw a Dunedin child undergo eight years of unnecessary chemotherapy
22 October 2021
The child was initially diagnosed as having the rarest leukaemia in the world.
But the new proven diagnosis is actually a rare gene mutation - with the case being only one of 20 in the world.
The child Ray McCormick is now 58 and still living in Dunedin - and is the oldest in the world to carry the mutation.
He's carrying a rare gene that super-charges the growth of B lymphocytes.
McCormick says he's sad and a little angry he underwent so many years of unnecessary treatment - but he's grateful to have it solved.
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