Doctor Shows No Signs of Cancer after a year following world-first treatment

Australian doctor Professor Richard Scolyer, who underwent a groundbreaking treatment for glioblastoma (GBM) one year ago, continues to remain free of cancer.

Despite being diagnosed with an aggressive subtype of glioblastoma, which typically results in survival of less than a year for most patients, Professor Scolyer recently shared that his latest MRI scan revealed no recurrence of the tumour.

Glioblastoma is a type of brain cancer that develops from glial cells, which are supportive cells in the brain. It is the most aggressive and malignant form of glioma, accounting for about 60-70% of all gliomas. Glioblastomas can occur in any part of the brain but are most common in the cerebral hemispheres of the brain. These tumours are highly infiltrative, meaning they invade and spread into nearby brain tissue, making complete surgical removal difficult.

Alongside his colleague, renowned medical oncologist Professor Georgia Long, Prof Scolyer was named Australian of the Year for his research on melanoma, which is now informing his own experimental therapy.

Over the past decade the pair’s research on immunotherapy, which uses the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells, has dramatically improved outcomes for advanced melanoma patients globally. Half are now essentially cured, up from less than 10%.

Prof Long and her team discovered that immunotherapy works better when a combination of drugs are used, and when they are administered before any surgery to remove a tumour.

Last year, Prof Scolyer became the first brain cancer patient to ever have combination, pre-surgery immunotherapy. He is also the first to be administered a vaccine personalised to his tumour's characteristics, which boosts the cancer-detecting powers of the drugs.

“Dr Scolyer’s story is exciting because it draws attention to how game-changing it would be for so many condemned patients if this novel approach to treatment of his glioblastoma did result in a cure,” said Professor Garth Cruickshank, Chair of our Scientific and Medical Advisory Board.

“People vary in their response to treatments. Indeed, very few people with GBM – perhaps 2-5% – may live up to five years, but most succumb earlier particularly if they are older, and their tumours are larger. In many cases we can say that age, extent of tumour (stage) and surgery, and other individual factors will all modify how the tumour behaves. Thus, a person with a small glioblastoma who has had good surgery and chemo and radiotherapy and is young (under 60) will have a good chance of surviving 18 months. One would need to see such a person surviving well at two years or more to start to consider whether this heralds a breakthrough. This new treatment is novel and interesting and applied in the kind of innovative way that we need to see researchers trying, so we all hope that this is offers the key to a better future for brain tumour sufferers.”

Reference: GBM Cells; Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence, Queen Mary University of London, UK.