Two-year-old Boy Receives the Gift of Life and Overcomes Cancer with Groundbreaking Experimental Treatment at Holtz Children’s Hospital

What:

When Michelle Ramkumar Langlois welcomed her first child, Bruce Noah Langlois, into the world on November 29, 2020, she never could have predicted what the next few years of their lives would look like. Noah was born prematurely and hardly weighed a pound, and spent the first 207 days of his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at a hospital in his hometown in Fort Myers.

On his first birthday, Noah’s mother found a strange lump on his stomach. One week later, he was diagnosed with stage III hepatoblastoma. The lump was a tumor that occupied 90 percent of his liver – also known as a pretext 3 hepatoblastoma since it was in three zones of his liver. Noah’s oncologists told Langlois his treatment options included chemotherapy with the hopes of shrinking the tumor and eventually a liver transplant or resection. After four rounds of chemotherapy in Fort Myers, his tumor did not shrink.

His care team contacted Jennifer Garcia, MD, medical director of pediatric transplant services, adult and pediatric intestinal rehabilitation and intestinal transplant at the Miami Transplant Institute. On March 24, 2022, Dr. Garcia and members of his medical team met with his mother via telehealth, and decided to transfer him to Holtz Children’s Hospital.

Five days later, Noah was airlifted to Holtz Children’s. He was battling respiratory failure due to a sepsis infection and effects of cardio-pulmonary arrest that happened prior to his arrival at Holtz Children’s. His tumor was so large it was pressing against his diaphragm, making it not only difficult to breathe and eat; he mainly survived off parenteral nutrition (TPN) for a year.

For the next six months, Noah continued to undergo more rounds of chemotherapy, and a Y-90 embolization – a minimally invasive procedure that combines embolization and radiation therapy. A procedure, which had never been done on a patient Noah’s age and size, but proved successful, significantly reducing the size of the tumor, making him eligible for transplant.

On December 29, 2022, Noah’s mom received that fateful call – a donor had been found. During surgery, his transplant surgery team had to cut down the liver since the donor was larger than Noah.

Post-transplant, Noah underwent two final rounds of chemotherapy in April. A year and three months later, Noah and his family are preparing for discharge. Before he heads home, he is undergoing physical, speech, and occupational therapies.

During a press conference, Noah’s family along with his Holtz Children’s and MTI transplant team will discuss his groundbreaking case.
Read Noah’s full story here: https://jacksonhealth.org/faith-family-and-revolutionary-teamwork-save-noah-langlois-life-at-holtz-childrens-hospital/
Videos and photos available via this link: https://jacksonhealth.photoshelter.com/download-page/D0000xOp81pIWbUg

Who:

Noah Langlois, patient
Michelle Ramkumar Langlois, Noah’s mother
Jennifer Garcia, MD, medical director of pediatric transplant services, adult and pediatric intestinal rehabilitation and intestinal transplant at the Miami Transplant Institute.
Juan-Pablo Solano, MD, pediatric critical care specialist at Holtz Children’s Hospital
Prasoon Mohan, MD interventional radiologist at the University of Miami Health System and associate professor of clinical interventional radiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
professor of surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Akin Tekin, MD, liver, intestinal, and multivisceral surgeon at the Miami Transplant Institute and professor of surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Stephanie Epstein, music therapist at Holtz Children’s Hospital
Heidy Carbot, pediatric physical therapist at Holtz Children’s Hospital

When:

Thursday, June 15, 2023
10 – 11 a.m.

Where:

Holtz Children’s Hospital
Family Room – 3rd Floor
1611 N.W. 12th Ave.
Miami, FL 33136

Notes:

Media can park in the media lot at Ryder Trauma. A Jackson media representative will greet media in the lobby of Holtz Children’s Hospital at 9:45 a.m.