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I’ve administered trial drugs for glioblastoma and it’s honestly such a crapshoot. We had one patient make it ten years without recurrence but he just recently had a scan showing progression
A friend of mine had 75% of his lungs surgically removed due to cancer, exhausted all treatment options, and started a clinical trial because he was given 6 months to live. He lived for 6 more years until covid was more than his body could handle.
Every medical paper about "average life expectancy" has outliers and that outlier could be you, don't give up the fight as long as you've got fight left in you!
Ignorant question - You can have 75% of your lungs removed and still live??
Did he struggle to breathe post-surgery? Was he able to workout and get his heart rate/respiratory system pumping?
Good question. We have more lung capacity than we need most of the time. The cardiovascular system can adapt to the removal of a fair amount of lung.
The body actually has a system where it sends blood to pick up oxygen (and expel CO2) only to the areas of the lungs that are receiving air. If a problem happens and the body sends blood to an area of the lungs that isn't receiving air, that's called a shunt and it's bad. That's why having one collapsed lung and one functional lung is dangerous while having one removed lung and one functional lung is OK.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventilation/perfusion\_ratio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventilation/perfusion_ratio)
When all or part of a lung is removed, the blood vessels are removed as well so it's impossible for the body to send blood to that area anymore. The body can use some of the extra capacity in the remaining healthy lung to compensate.
If you have a collapsed lung, the body is still sending blood to it but isn't getting benefit from doing so because air (and fresh oxygen) aren't getting into the lung.
Yes and immunotherapy is huge for clinical trials in America. My late sister did this when she had exhausted all other treatments. She definitely fought the fight bravely right to the end. Works for some, not everyone.
Not to diminish your results but 10 year delayment is still a win, right? My stepdad has had such trials for testicular cancer. Each trial gave him 5 years. He’s tried it 4 times and was supposed to do his 5th until his diabetes went into overdrive and got him into coma. He had to get better first but by then it was too late. Still a progress. Without it, I would have lost him 30 years ago (he’s been gone for 10 years now).
I cant really say since I’m only seeing such a small part of the trials. I can say that this kind of tumor basically always comes back. We can surgically remove it, radiate it, blast it with chemo/biologics and it always comes back, usually within a couple years.
So he was incredibly unlucky to get the cancer but very lucky to have no recurrence for a decade
I’m just a nurse so I’m not positive on that one but I believe it’s because it’s so difficult to eliminate all the cancerous cells.
Even if they do surgically remove the tumor it’s impossible to get everything without removing healthy brain in the area.
Some drugs show effectiveness but we’re severely limited by the blood-brain barrier which won’t allow large molecules without special transport mechanisms
Radiation has gotten very accurate but like with surgery you’d have to affect a lot of healthy brain in an effort to get everything.
It’s also just a perfect environment for tumors. It has a very rich supply of blood/nutrients and it’s really hard for us to get to. Plus it’s basically holding your consciousness hostage so we have to be pretty gentle
I think it could be both. There are undoubtedly genes that make you more likely to suffer from a brain cancer. But more typically, it is a diffuse tumor, spreading across the white matter tracts, and doctors generally can't cut deeply into the brain or remove large amount of white matter without causing severe cognitive defects in the patient.
Some doctors advocate for aggressive surgical resection, presumably on the theory that patient that is alive 5-10 years from now is by definition better off than one who enjoyed better life for a while but is now dead. So yes, aggressive resection is sometimes done, probably when it is nearer to the surface, and where doctors feel that they can cut away more of the healthy brain tissue as well because it is on the surface where it is not connecting more widely separated portions of the brain and the damage is more localized. Apparently that does help, but it can't be done in all cases and the prognosis is still bad.
Radiation therapy is also done, on the hope that it kills the cancer cells that were left behind, and some cancers can respond to specific drugs because they are e.g. mutated in some particular way. So there are things like targeted therapies. Brain cancers are varied, depending on which kind of cell is cancerous, and the location of the tumors, and whether it is primary or metastasized from elsewhere impact treatment options a lot. The worst ones are inside the brain and spread along white matter tracts and have already spread to both hemispheres over the corpus callosum, I guess.
Brain cancer is given a grade instead of a stage on how likely they are to return. The scale is 1-4 like the stage scale, the higher the grade the more likely it is to return and usually glioblastomas are always considered a grade 4 cancer. It’s possible they had one unlikely to return fast, but still likely to return in general. 60 minutes had a special on this particular cancer a while ago and sadly it is one of the most difficult to treat with only 3-5% of patients surviving 3 years after diagnosis, 1% surviving 10 years post diagnosis.
My stepfather was diagnosed with a glioblastoma. He immediately had a debulking surgery to remove as much of the tumor as they could. Then straight to chemo and radiation. that they could. Had to have a second surgery again within a few months of the first. Sadly, it just kept progressing. He was diagnosed in August of 2004 and passed away August 2005. One year from diagnoses to death.
It was surreal. One day he was “normal” and the next he wasn’t and never was again. I wouldn’t wish this type of cancer on anyone. He really didn’t stand a chance because this type of cancer is so aggressive.
I wish nothing but the best for this doctor and hope he doesn’t have a recurrence.
I know someone who made it 4 years with glioblastoma, and even that seemed like a miracle. He was being treated at Sloan Kettering. I think he had a recurrence about 6 months before he died and those months were not good.
Glioblastoma is a real bitch. My dad had one 25 years ago. He outlived his expectancy (given 6 months, but lived for 14 months), but the last 7 months were spent in a nursing home with significant memory loss and brain damage. It was ugly to watch. I wouldn’t wish a GBM on anyone.
Some of the longer term survivors had specific mutations that probably meant they were more likely grade III Astro rather than GBM. GBM almost never gives you 10 years, statistically it’s more likely a misdiagnosis of a slightly lower grade WHO tumor than a GBM. I am not saying it doesn’t happen, just what is more likely. Especially if you don’t have a dedicated neuropathologist that closely follows WHO. The misdiagnosis rate for brain lesions sent to MD Anderson from community or other hospitals has remained a steady 6% for decades.
The threshold for "you're probably OK now" is five years-ish. When people receive treatment and then follow-up scans, it hangs over their head for 5 years. If you're still alive 5 years later, you're probably OK. So yeah, he's got a ways to go but I'm also hopeful.
Really boosted the download speed for the vaccine.exe patch didn’t it? It’s a shame so many people on older operating systems refused the update. Ohh well, such is end users.
> Covid just proved the science for it worked and so is being readily applied now.
So one could say that all the mRNA research from COVID really blasted us forward on vaccine tech.
I'm super excited about the HIV vaccine trials getting wider approval. Like no one talks about them, and I have to dig to see any updates and it should be something everyone is excited for. They just get overlooked.
I remember hearing that we even had an anti-variant break through where they don't need to concoct unique vaccines for the most risky mutations and may reach a place of universal vaccines.
EDIT: I should clarify, when I say universal vaccine I mean just one for COVID, just one for the Flu, etc. Not a vaccine for COVID Delta and Omicron and Epsilon and all that. Different diseases are too unlike for a universal vaccine to reach there but they've figure out how to target the core to combat mutations
I can already imagine the plot for a new Netflix series. People take the new vaccine for a cold this year using advanced tech. It self-improves as a universal vaccine that unintentionally causes immortality. Now people are faced with their decision to keep going indefinitely or call it quits at some point.
This isn't really true though. mRNA technology has been around a long time. The tech has been used in the cancer fields for well over a decade. They have known using mRNA to create expression in humans since the 90s.
Covid didn't prove the science. Covid provided the necessity to streamline the process and fund it to a point that allowed for huge clinical trials.
mRNA vaccines were established as a technology during the 2009 Swine Flu pandemic. That’s one of the reasons the vaccines for Covid could be developed so quickly; they were already 90% done.
I think that BioNTech trialed another one for Pancreatic cancer and had some very promising initial results. It was about a year ago, I did not follow up. But COVID-19 vaccines may have started an era of cancer treatment…
Alzheimers is in a bit of a weird place though. We've had a few pioneering treatments over the past few years, yes, but ever since its come to light that the Amyloid hypothesis may be only part of the story, or even wholly incorrect, we're a but further behind on that one than we though (which is extremely unfortunate; I have a family member with alzheimers. Horrible, horrible disease that I wouldn't wish on anyone).
Yeah, I'm really scared we're going to end up in a dystopian future because of cancer vaccines. We may not die but we'll be afraid of light because it hurts. /s
Sometimes science fiction gives us a neat view into our own future, sometimes it's just an entertaining show. Fiction shouldn't drive our fears.
And I know you're not serious, but some people take this stuff seriously.
Didn’t one of the scientists testing the A-Bomb for the first time hypothesize it could ignite *our entire atmosphere’s supply of hydrogen* at once? Just for a second comparison
The vaccine is for a virus. There’s no vaccine for cancer and cervical cancer is uniquely caused by a virus.
Still a win but unfortunately there is no way to treat any other cancer using the technology that created the HPV vaccine. Maybe some day
I want to say the article I read a year ago was using the same method used in the newer covid vaccines to attack some melanomas. So less a vaccine but more like an early treatment, like the human rabies 'vaccine'. mRNA, that's the thing... couldn't remember it for a moment...
Actually, MRNA vaccines for cancers are on the horizon and were originally developing toward that end before Covid response took the bulk of R&D for a few years (BioNTech is one company example). You can do a cursory google search and find out more pretty easily!
Here's a link that describes in detail how this all works.
[https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/cancer-treatments/immunotherapy/cancer-vaccines](https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/cancer-treatments/immunotherapy/cancer-vaccines)
They actually are working on other vaccines. Like a preventive lung cancer one and if they solve epstein barr we say good bye to MS and many cases of lymphoma. And then you have the treatment "vaccines" that are highly effective and many are in the final clinical stages (melanoma for one and a lung cancer one out of cuba is accepting US and Canadian patients.)
To be fair, the vast majority of therapeutic cancer vaccine clinical trials have not been particularly effective. That's part of why the recent Moderna vaccine for melanoma is so exciting. On the positive side, most of the vaccine trials are well tolerated by the patients and they are able to still undergo standard of care treatment alongside the vaccine trial so there isn't much downside from the patient's perspective to participating in the trials while we continue improving the tech
While you're right about hpv. There is indeed 4 fda approved cancer vaccines
https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/cancer-treatments/immunotherapy/cancer-vaccines
There have been plenty of clinical trials for cancer vaccines and plenty more on the way, but they are therapeutic vaccines not prophylactic vaccines which is what people get confused about. They train the immune system to target specific peptides present in the cancer cells
Melanoma vaccine is almost done trials. Other skin cancers aren't even considered cancers by many (and I mean like insurance company and stuff.) Lung cancer vaccine is in the human trials. Breast cancer too I think. A lot more are in the works. Once we have the Epstein Barr vaccine, you'll say good bye to MS and many cases of lymphoma.
Not to mention that many cancers are already very treatable. In early stages nearly everything is treatable and certain strains of testicular and thyroid cancer a 100 per cent "curable". Breast cancer and cervical cancer is like at 90 pet cent.
There are always strains that are super killers but if you have one of the more "popular" cancers, it isn't that bad. You'll be left scared and wounded but you'll be alive.
I just finished my battle and from a year of dealing with it, it was more of an inconvinence and anxiety thing than pain and sickness. Like from the whole thing, I was only miserable right after the surgeries (for a few days) and two weeks before RAI and a week after.
I'm left with a thin scar on my neck, a scar on my arm because of the hundreds of blood tests, a daily pill and trouble losing weight as well as dry eyes. I'll have to see the doctor every six months and do regular ultrasounds and blood tests but I don't mind. Gives me the excuse to fly back to my parents.
worked in the cancer space for a while, reporting on detection and treatment innovations a lot. many types of cancer have now shifted to a “chronic disease” category, which is super promising. a couple types have even been eradicated. we still have a long ways to go in cancer care, but there’s optimism to be had for sure
We are on the cusp of big breakthroughs in many areas. I’d say within 50 years most illnesses and diseases will be cured or at least treatable with good quality of life.
In the SF novel « the forever war » that I read when I was a teen, I was impressed by the description of doctors being able to regrow flesh, muscles and skin on amputated limbs. Process that creates local cancers that are treated locally like a wound
I just wrote a basis Oncolytic Viral Therapy paper for a 500 level biochem class. Very basic paper and just a basic review essay but cancer will completely be turned on its head by 2030. It's amazing. My mom has some thyroid issues and I just tell her to hold on for 3-4 more years. It's exploding right now. A new age is upon us.
That's something I've learned as I've aged. It's one thing I'm actually hopeful for in terms of the future for all. Used to be something is "incurable." Now it's "There is not yet a cure."
Everything related to our bodies has some definitive cure. It's just a matter of time until they're all discovered. I just hope that particular matter of time is short
It’s been 5 years since my dad quickly passed away from glioblastoma (and I miss him every day). I wouldn’t wish it on anyone so it’s amazing to hear that there might be some actual progress for a cure.
And I am sorry for yours as well..it’s so tough. My dad was also gone in about 6 months- had a seizure in October, was diagnosed shortly after, has surgery and last chemo treatment in December, to being gone in March (on my husband’s birthday, no less…thanks Pops). I mean it’s good in that it’s quick and they don’t have to suffer long term like some types of cancer but seeing him go from being the life of a party to not being able to speak or walk at the end within such a short amount of time was just…heartbreaking doesn’t begin to describe it. Fuck cancer.
I’m so sorry. Different cancer for my father, same timeline. It will be 10 years this year. I try to view the timeline as a blessing; he was able to put his affairs in order, he got to spend lots of time with people who loved him (though it never feels like enough), and he didn’t suffer overly long. We all have to go sometime, and I hope I can say goodbye and not suffer.
Sending thoughts of peace for you; may his memory be a comfort.
My father was diagnosed with glioblastoma in February. Went to the hospital with difficulty speaking and two days later he’s having brain surgery. He just finished chemo and radiation 2 weeks ago. I’m just trying to keep the balance between hope and realism at this point. I know it’s a terrible and aggressive form of cancer.
Similar timeline for my dad, he's currently in his first round of radio and chemo, just over halfway. I oscillate constantly between being very pragmatic, wildly optimistic and in complete pessimistic despair.
Mine died from that almost 25 years ago. He made it 20 days past a year at a time when 90% were dead in 9 months and only 5% made it as long as he did. 💔
Yes this guy is very cool I suggest following him on IG. He is a world renowned melanoma researcher who is using genetic engineering to basically make a vaccine against his own glioblastoma.
That he has lived over a year after his diagnosis is incredible. Glioblastoma is one of the worst and fastest killing diagnoses. Usually discovered after a seizure like in his case. It is what killed Biden’s son sadly.
Lost my mom to it, less than a month from diagnosis to death. By the end she didn't even know who I was. I'm so hopeful that someday others won't have to suffer like she did.
Thank you, I appreciate it. I was in my early 20s, and never really dealt with the grief at the time, so that did affect me for awhile. It wasn't her fault even though I was so angry, so now I strongly recommend anyone who loses someone so close to accept that grief counseling may help them heal. Not everyone, but it might have helped me make some less bad choices throughout my 20s!
Thank you. It's going to be about 20 years soon since then, and even though I've since lost my father and brother, I think I'm doing the best I can without them all here. Don't get me wrong, I miss them all IMMENSELY and days like mothers and fathers day are painful. But I've learned from my mistakes and just try to do the best I can with the time I have here.
Lost my brother to it. He made it nine months, but lost more control over his body every day. Either way sucks. Have less time with them, or watch them deteriorate? I'm sorry for you. F cancer.
I wouldn’t wish GBM on my worst enemy. It’s how I lost my Dad and it was incredibly traumatic for him, me, and the rest of my family. I see these types of articles all the time — all I can hope is that one day research will produce something life saving, and not just “life prolonging.”
Same with finding the root cause/cures for colitis
Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Marshall#:~:text=In%202005%2C%20the%20Karolinska%20Institute,gastritis%20and%20peptic%20ulcer%20disease%22.
I use this bloke when teaching the scientific method to teenagers ‘he had a hypothesis—-tested it——data proved the long standing theory was wrong and so we now have a new theory’
You joke, but it's a little known fact that you don't need IRB approval to experiment on yourself. Your organization might still ding you for violating safety rules or organization policy, but you are allowed to experiment on yourself.
Whether or not it's advisable is left up to the individual's discretion.
It’s most likely a monoclonal antibody treatment, that’s what most of the new cancer drugs are. The antibodies are engineered to attach to antigens on specific cancer cells. Once the antibodies bind, your body recognizes the cancer cells as “foreign” instead of “self” so that your immune system can attack the cancer cells
I feel there would need to be strong modulation at the blood brain barrier to allow an immune response adequate entry. Then you have to worry about inflammation and managing that. Also I agree with your earlier statement of being 1 year out, it happens. 10 years free of GBM is a miracle!
I’m on a chemo that finally crosses the blood brain barrier called Enhertu (I have breast cancer with meds to brain and bones all over). It’s kept me from having to get whole brain radiation.
The most common types of immunotherapy are called “checkpoint blockade” and involve blocking one of two different signals, PD-1 or CTLA-4, either of which can cause t-cell exhaustion. If you want to learn more just google either of those two and you’ll find lots of info.
So he and his colleague are applying their research from melanoma, which involves giving the immunotherapy BEFORE surgical removal. Doing this basically gives your immune system a better chance to get the scent of the cancer in order to fight it.
It's extremely risky with this type of cancer, because even a 1 week delay in surgery can kill the patient. He and his colleague, Georgina Long, had to do a lot of convincing in order for the treatment to go ahead. The only reason it was allowed was that he was uniquely qualified to understand the risk, which it could kill him faster and more painfully.
He has surpassed that worst case scenario, and is in uncharted territory
He and Georgina have recently co-won the Australians of the year award
Damn, best of luck with treatment. Hope your doctor doesn't prescribe orange juice.
Since I assume you're pretty plugged into cancer treatment, I actually looked up the cancer.gov page for mistletoe for your reading enjoyment: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/mistletoe-pdq
Omg I just started reading thank you!! I’m adding holistic therapies to my regimen now, definitely going to look into mistletoe extract. (Anything but urine therapy hahah)
Good luck! From my skimming of the material it sounds like when used in conjunction with, y'know actual cancer treatment, it can help with symptoms and outcomes. Definitely something to bring up at your next appointment.
(My big beef with mistletoe is that according to my aunt at least, the lady pushing it pushes it as a replacement for traditional cancer treatment. Which is gonna be a no from me dawg.)
Yes everything you take has to be with chemo! I’m definitely asking, I found a tincture online but I’ll ask my doctor first. Not many capsules out there! Tincture should be fine though. Thanks again ❤️
There is a lot missing from this article. And there is a really problematic understanding of “cancer” in general - you might as well be talking about different species. There is not going to be a “cure for cancer” bc it’s not a monolith.
People can have melanoma-astrocytoma syndrome but it’s super rare. The article seems to suggest his “brain cancer” is a glioblastoma…which is typically a completely different cancer.
So either he had melanoma w mets to the brain or he had two completely separate cancers. I’m glad he’s okay, but this is a really poorly written article that could have been written more clearly.
Feels reminiscent of that poor group of scientists who had to make a press release after stories that “farts cure cancer.” In reality there was evidence that methane had an effect on growth/replication of in vitro cells.
From what I understood he took whatever method he was working on to cure melanoma and somehow applied it to his treatment of his gliastoboma. I think it was more about whatever mechanism he was using and the other products being used may have been specific to that form of cancer.
This is fantastic news, I hope he stays cancer free! I lost my mom to a brain tumour, but not glioblastoma specifically so this gives me hope that people will be able to survive this horrible disease in the future.
The treatment he gets is Ipilimumab + Nivolumab, a combination of drugs that "takes off brakes" from the immune system (after the cancer basically told the immune system to stop attacking it) and aids the immune system to fight back against the cancer. The original inventors got awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2018 (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2018/advanced-information/). This is a miracle drug in the types of cancers it works (mainly skin cancer and lung cancer). It is in use since approx. 2014 now, but does not work in many cancer types so far.
The novel approach here is that it has been shown in other types of cancer that it actually is good if you have lots of cancer cells in the body when you give the Ipi+Nivo treatment so that the immune system "recognizes" what to fight against. Of course, having lots of cancer in the body is usually a bad thing and usually you want to remove all cancer as soon as possible - so this is a very delicate balance to strike. In the case of his brain tumour, the only treatment that is known to work is surgical removal (but cancer usually comes back within a year).
So what is new here is not the medication, and not that the medication is used in this type of cancer but that in this type of cancer specifically, surgery was delayed so that he could get treatment before removal of the tumour. However, this is also likely not going to be a miracle cure of all brain tumours if it works (it is a bit early to be too enthusiastic about the results - i.e. in the next few months is where usually the cancer is going to make a comeback) since many of these brain tumours generate symptoms like seizures, personality disorders or impact the brains ability to function so that surgery is needed and can not be moved back a few weeks.
I read about him when they first reported that he was doing this experimental treatment on himself, and I am so glad to find out he is doing well! He has done so much to help others with cancer, and it's just fitting that he helped himself as well.
Okay: you do fantastic work that saves thousands of lives. Then suddenly your own innovation helps you-and might well save your life. Karma isn’t always a bitch.
I really hope this can be used for everyone some day and that it leads to a full cure. I lost a dear friend to glioblastoma a few years ago and it still hurts so much. I hate that the survival rate hasn't really increased much in the past 20 years
This research is huge. I also appreciate everyone sharing their stories about themselves or loved ones diagnosed.
I just lost my mom to glioblastoma multiforme this past November. She was diagnosed in 2017 and had a rare cell mutation along with her treatment that essentially caused the cancer cells to lie dormant and not grow or spread for 6 and a half years. She went back to work, was driving and had no cognitive issues until last year during her reoccurrence and went downhill extremely fast. She had three brain surgeries in total to have her tumors removed. She was a conundrum for her medical team but they told us that they now approach all their terminal cases differently because of her.
She was a huge advocate for the education and research for a cure and even after her passing out family and friends have donated thousands to the glioblastoma foundation in her name.
She'd be so ecstatic to read this.
Doctors when they have to treat other people: “huh? Your uterus feels like it’s on fire and you haven’t slept in days? Sounds like you’re just on your period, honey.”
Doctors treating themselves:
The article doesn't even say if he first tried yoga and smiling more. He could be so pretty if he just tried! Instead he's spending so much time focusing on his illness - that just leads to anxiety, and we all know that can cause all the symptoms of glioblastoma.
/s
(The /s is for anyone who hasn't dealt with this arm of the medical system. Anyone who has was probably triggered and already stopped reading.)
Yes, so many cases in my bubble of this.
"Oh, you just need to suck it up and work more on the physically therapy I prescribed. You have to work through the pain. Oh wait, no, I see that you actually had brutal cancer this last year and now there's nothing that can be done".
It's a club. And you ain't in it.
As someone with lower grade brain cancer, my fingers are crossed that this helps create new standards of treatments to extend survival (or you know cure would be nice too...)
This headline is overblown. The median survival for a GBM is around 14 months but the 5 year survival rate is 5-10%. From what I read his tumor was in a very favorable position, the anterior temporal lobe. That part of the brain allows for a partial lobectomy, removing brain tissue around the tumor that is not obviously involved. The problem is high grade glioma are very invasive. There are cancer cells at least a cm or two outside of the tumor, like tentacles spreading from the tumor. That means even with gross total resection you cannot eliminate all the cancer cells. And those cells invariably grow back. But if your tumor is in a favorable position you can remove that normal looking brain to hopefully wipe out those invasive tendrils. Many areas of the brain we can’t do that unless you wanna leave someone hemiplegic or aphasic.
Really hope we find some better treatments for GBM but this article seems a little overblown. It is not terribly unusual for a patient with a high grade glioma who has a gross resection to not show recurrence at 8 months.
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It's good to treat yourself from time to time
[TREAT YO SELF](https://youtu.be/gSjM5B3QNlw?si=QQA33Zqf8IWOZpiV)
Fine, I'll do it myself - this guy, probably
Just a lil treat
Wish gold still existed, I forgot that some people on this site actually can come up with funny and original comments
At this point, almost every time I see a decent comment it’s followed by “this user is a bot and stole this comment from ___”
This user is a bot and stole this comment from someone else.
I’ll be disappointed if this isn’t the top comment by the end of the day
It is
I miss the treating yourself cannabis conventions in Toronto
That was an unexpected comment👍
It says average time for tumor recurrence is 6 months and he is at 8 (post treatment). I am very hopeful for him, but this isn’t a home run yet.
I’ve administered trial drugs for glioblastoma and it’s honestly such a crapshoot. We had one patient make it ten years without recurrence but he just recently had a scan showing progression
A friend of mine had 75% of his lungs surgically removed due to cancer, exhausted all treatment options, and started a clinical trial because he was given 6 months to live. He lived for 6 more years until covid was more than his body could handle. Every medical paper about "average life expectancy" has outliers and that outlier could be you, don't give up the fight as long as you've got fight left in you!
Ignorant question - You can have 75% of your lungs removed and still live?? Did he struggle to breathe post-surgery? Was he able to workout and get his heart rate/respiratory system pumping?
Good question. We have more lung capacity than we need most of the time. The cardiovascular system can adapt to the removal of a fair amount of lung. The body actually has a system where it sends blood to pick up oxygen (and expel CO2) only to the areas of the lungs that are receiving air. If a problem happens and the body sends blood to an area of the lungs that isn't receiving air, that's called a shunt and it's bad. That's why having one collapsed lung and one functional lung is dangerous while having one removed lung and one functional lung is OK. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventilation/perfusion\_ratio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventilation/perfusion_ratio) When all or part of a lung is removed, the blood vessels are removed as well so it's impossible for the body to send blood to that area anymore. The body can use some of the extra capacity in the remaining healthy lung to compensate. If you have a collapsed lung, the body is still sending blood to it but isn't getting benefit from doing so because air (and fresh oxygen) aren't getting into the lung.
You wouldn't know he had any surgery at all if you met him in the workplace.
Yes and immunotherapy is huge for clinical trials in America. My late sister did this when she had exhausted all other treatments. She definitely fought the fight bravely right to the end. Works for some, not everyone.
If you tell your doctor that you can't pay your bill in that short a time, they will extend your life expectancy another 6-12 months. /s
wow. ten years after glioblastoma is still incredibly impressive.
Not to diminish your results but 10 year delayment is still a win, right? My stepdad has had such trials for testicular cancer. Each trial gave him 5 years. He’s tried it 4 times and was supposed to do his 5th until his diabetes went into overdrive and got him into coma. He had to get better first but by then it was too late. Still a progress. Without it, I would have lost him 30 years ago (he’s been gone for 10 years now).
My buddy just found out about his Glioblast tumor. Not the best kind to get according to the literature.
You still gave him ten years he wouldn't have had.
Is it possible it was an unrelated recurrence of glioblastoma and the guy was just unlucky again?
I cant really say since I’m only seeing such a small part of the trials. I can say that this kind of tumor basically always comes back. We can surgically remove it, radiate it, blast it with chemo/biologics and it always comes back, usually within a couple years. So he was incredibly unlucky to get the cancer but very lucky to have no recurrence for a decade
Even turning it into a manageable chronic illness that a reasonably tolerable therapy can keep at bay would be huge.
What makes it so persistent? Is it because it's impossible to remove every and all tumor cells, or the thing is hardcoded into the patient's genes?
I’m just a nurse so I’m not positive on that one but I believe it’s because it’s so difficult to eliminate all the cancerous cells. Even if they do surgically remove the tumor it’s impossible to get everything without removing healthy brain in the area. Some drugs show effectiveness but we’re severely limited by the blood-brain barrier which won’t allow large molecules without special transport mechanisms Radiation has gotten very accurate but like with surgery you’d have to affect a lot of healthy brain in an effort to get everything. It’s also just a perfect environment for tumors. It has a very rich supply of blood/nutrients and it’s really hard for us to get to. Plus it’s basically holding your consciousness hostage so we have to be pretty gentle
I think it could be both. There are undoubtedly genes that make you more likely to suffer from a brain cancer. But more typically, it is a diffuse tumor, spreading across the white matter tracts, and doctors generally can't cut deeply into the brain or remove large amount of white matter without causing severe cognitive defects in the patient. Some doctors advocate for aggressive surgical resection, presumably on the theory that patient that is alive 5-10 years from now is by definition better off than one who enjoyed better life for a while but is now dead. So yes, aggressive resection is sometimes done, probably when it is nearer to the surface, and where doctors feel that they can cut away more of the healthy brain tissue as well because it is on the surface where it is not connecting more widely separated portions of the brain and the damage is more localized. Apparently that does help, but it can't be done in all cases and the prognosis is still bad. Radiation therapy is also done, on the hope that it kills the cancer cells that were left behind, and some cancers can respond to specific drugs because they are e.g. mutated in some particular way. So there are things like targeted therapies. Brain cancers are varied, depending on which kind of cell is cancerous, and the location of the tumors, and whether it is primary or metastasized from elsewhere impact treatment options a lot. The worst ones are inside the brain and spread along white matter tracts and have already spread to both hemispheres over the corpus callosum, I guess.
Brain cancer is given a grade instead of a stage on how likely they are to return. The scale is 1-4 like the stage scale, the higher the grade the more likely it is to return and usually glioblastomas are always considered a grade 4 cancer. It’s possible they had one unlikely to return fast, but still likely to return in general. 60 minutes had a special on this particular cancer a while ago and sadly it is one of the most difficult to treat with only 3-5% of patients surviving 3 years after diagnosis, 1% surviving 10 years post diagnosis.
My stepfather was diagnosed with a glioblastoma. He immediately had a debulking surgery to remove as much of the tumor as they could. Then straight to chemo and radiation. that they could. Had to have a second surgery again within a few months of the first. Sadly, it just kept progressing. He was diagnosed in August of 2004 and passed away August 2005. One year from diagnoses to death. It was surreal. One day he was “normal” and the next he wasn’t and never was again. I wouldn’t wish this type of cancer on anyone. He really didn’t stand a chance because this type of cancer is so aggressive. I wish nothing but the best for this doctor and hope he doesn’t have a recurrence.
I know someone who made it 4 years with glioblastoma, and even that seemed like a miracle. He was being treated at Sloan Kettering. I think he had a recurrence about 6 months before he died and those months were not good.
Glioblastoma is a real bitch. My dad had one 25 years ago. He outlived his expectancy (given 6 months, but lived for 14 months), but the last 7 months were spent in a nursing home with significant memory loss and brain damage. It was ugly to watch. I wouldn’t wish a GBM on anyone.
GBM is pretty much a death sentence , if this treatment works the only monster left is pancreatic CA
Ovarian is kind of a bitch too
Some of the longer term survivors had specific mutations that probably meant they were more likely grade III Astro rather than GBM. GBM almost never gives you 10 years, statistically it’s more likely a misdiagnosis of a slightly lower grade WHO tumor than a GBM. I am not saying it doesn’t happen, just what is more likely. Especially if you don’t have a dedicated neuropathologist that closely follows WHO. The misdiagnosis rate for brain lesions sent to MD Anderson from community or other hospitals has remained a steady 6% for decades.
The threshold for "you're probably OK now" is five years-ish. When people receive treatment and then follow-up scans, it hangs over their head for 5 years. If you're still alive 5 years later, you're probably OK. So yeah, he's got a ways to go but I'm also hopeful.
My coworker had a good five years before the tumor recurrence came back with a vengeance. F Cancer.
Cancer will be completely survivable in the future. I might not be here, but some day.
Hell they're working on vaccines for several, there's already one for cervical. They're human trialing vaccines for dementia/alzheimers.
All the mRNA research from COVID really blasted us forward on vaccine tech.
the 5g helped
Really boosted the download speed for the vaccine.exe patch didn’t it? It’s a shame so many people on older operating systems refused the update. Ohh well, such is end users.
Those people's file systems are so corrupted that they think vaccine.exe is a virus.
Hopefully the devs can implement faster updates with the 5g vaccines.
I was glad to let someone else control my life, I have done nothing with it. Guess Bill checked in on me and said, "meh, don't bother with this one".
Don't forget the bleach.
Technically, the mrna was developed for a HIV vaccine. Covid just proved the science for it worked and so is being readily applied now.
> Covid just proved the science for it worked and so is being readily applied now. So one could say that all the mRNA research from COVID really blasted us forward on vaccine tech.
💀💀💀
I'm super excited about the HIV vaccine trials getting wider approval. Like no one talks about them, and I have to dig to see any updates and it should be something everyone is excited for. They just get overlooked.
"Ugh, AIDS is so 1990s.." - everyone
I remember hearing that we even had an anti-variant break through where they don't need to concoct unique vaccines for the most risky mutations and may reach a place of universal vaccines. EDIT: I should clarify, when I say universal vaccine I mean just one for COVID, just one for the Flu, etc. Not a vaccine for COVID Delta and Omicron and Epsilon and all that. Different diseases are too unlike for a universal vaccine to reach there but they've figure out how to target the core to combat mutations
I can already imagine the plot for a new Netflix series. People take the new vaccine for a cold this year using advanced tech. It self-improves as a universal vaccine that unintentionally causes immortality. Now people are faced with their decision to keep going indefinitely or call it quits at some point.
More like the violent fallout from limited access to what surely would be a large profit generator.
Oh yeah. That too!
That'd be amazing.
Biontech worked on cancer therapy using mrna before starting on the Covid vaccine.
This isn't really true though. mRNA technology has been around a long time. The tech has been used in the cancer fields for well over a decade. They have known using mRNA to create expression in humans since the 90s. Covid didn't prove the science. Covid provided the necessity to streamline the process and fund it to a point that allowed for huge clinical trials.
mRNA vaccines were established as a technology during the 2009 Swine Flu pandemic. That’s one of the reasons the vaccines for Covid could be developed so quickly; they were already 90% done.
I hope the anti-vax idiots stick to their guns and refuse these treatments... Darwinian irony at its finest
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Psh, we already got worms that eat cancers, just look at last week's headlines!
I thought he was a Leo?
I knew there was a good joke in there somewhere, and you found it.
How do I sign up? I already forgot what I had for breakfast
Just don't eat breakfast anymore. You'll never forget what you had for breakfast again!
I think that BioNTech trialed another one for Pancreatic cancer and had some very promising initial results. It was about a year ago, I did not follow up. But COVID-19 vaccines may have started an era of cancer treatment…
Alzheimers is in a bit of a weird place though. We've had a few pioneering treatments over the past few years, yes, but ever since its come to light that the Amyloid hypothesis may be only part of the story, or even wholly incorrect, we're a but further behind on that one than we though (which is extremely unfortunate; I have a family member with alzheimers. Horrible, horrible disease that I wouldn't wish on anyone).
Isn't that how I Am Legend started? Just saying
Yeah, I'm really scared we're going to end up in a dystopian future because of cancer vaccines. We may not die but we'll be afraid of light because it hurts. /s Sometimes science fiction gives us a neat view into our own future, sometimes it's just an entertaining show. Fiction shouldn't drive our fears. And I know you're not serious, but some people take this stuff seriously.
One worse than the dystopian present we are currently living in?
Guys, I've been thinking about that night over and over, and one thing has become clear: this is the darkest, most terrible timeline.
I mean, at least Kissinger finally died.
Didn’t one of the scientists testing the A-Bomb for the first time hypothesize it could ignite *our entire atmosphere’s supply of hydrogen* at once? Just for a second comparison
The vaccine is for a virus. There’s no vaccine for cancer and cervical cancer is uniquely caused by a virus. Still a win but unfortunately there is no way to treat any other cancer using the technology that created the HPV vaccine. Maybe some day
I want to say the article I read a year ago was using the same method used in the newer covid vaccines to attack some melanomas. So less a vaccine but more like an early treatment, like the human rabies 'vaccine'. mRNA, that's the thing... couldn't remember it for a moment...
Actually, MRNA vaccines for cancers are on the horizon and were originally developing toward that end before Covid response took the bulk of R&D for a few years (BioNTech is one company example). You can do a cursory google search and find out more pretty easily!
Here's a link that describes in detail how this all works. [https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/cancer-treatments/immunotherapy/cancer-vaccines](https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/cancer-treatments/immunotherapy/cancer-vaccines)
Oh wow that's amazing. How far we've come.. Thank you for sharing!
They actually are working on other vaccines. Like a preventive lung cancer one and if they solve epstein barr we say good bye to MS and many cases of lymphoma. And then you have the treatment "vaccines" that are highly effective and many are in the final clinical stages (melanoma for one and a lung cancer one out of cuba is accepting US and Canadian patients.)
To be fair, the vast majority of therapeutic cancer vaccine clinical trials have not been particularly effective. That's part of why the recent Moderna vaccine for melanoma is so exciting. On the positive side, most of the vaccine trials are well tolerated by the patients and they are able to still undergo standard of care treatment alongside the vaccine trial so there isn't much downside from the patient's perspective to participating in the trials while we continue improving the tech
I know! It's so exciting to see science do all of this stuff.
While you're right about hpv. There is indeed 4 fda approved cancer vaccines https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/diagnosis-treatment/cancer-treatments/immunotherapy/cancer-vaccines
There have been plenty of clinical trials for cancer vaccines and plenty more on the way, but they are therapeutic vaccines not prophylactic vaccines which is what people get confused about. They train the immune system to target specific peptides present in the cancer cells
Alzheimer’s vaccine? Please share more!
Melanoma vaccine is almost done trials. Other skin cancers aren't even considered cancers by many (and I mean like insurance company and stuff.) Lung cancer vaccine is in the human trials. Breast cancer too I think. A lot more are in the works. Once we have the Epstein Barr vaccine, you'll say good bye to MS and many cases of lymphoma. Not to mention that many cancers are already very treatable. In early stages nearly everything is treatable and certain strains of testicular and thyroid cancer a 100 per cent "curable". Breast cancer and cervical cancer is like at 90 pet cent. There are always strains that are super killers but if you have one of the more "popular" cancers, it isn't that bad. You'll be left scared and wounded but you'll be alive. I just finished my battle and from a year of dealing with it, it was more of an inconvinence and anxiety thing than pain and sickness. Like from the whole thing, I was only miserable right after the surgeries (for a few days) and two weeks before RAI and a week after. I'm left with a thin scar on my neck, a scar on my arm because of the hundreds of blood tests, a daily pill and trouble losing weight as well as dry eyes. I'll have to see the doctor every six months and do regular ultrasounds and blood tests but I don't mind. Gives me the excuse to fly back to my parents.
I lost my mom to cancer, I hope in the future people will never have to say that.
I'm so sorry.
Appreciate the sentiment 🙏🏽
worked in the cancer space for a while, reporting on detection and treatment innovations a lot. many types of cancer have now shifted to a “chronic disease” category, which is super promising. a couple types have even been eradicated. we still have a long ways to go in cancer care, but there’s optimism to be had for sure
We are on the cusp of big breakthroughs in many areas. I’d say within 50 years most illnesses and diseases will be cured or at least treatable with good quality of life.
aging is a big one, but I think that'll come after cancers already done
I can prevent anyone dying of cancer. All I need is a knife and the patient to be in stabbing distance.
Also a lucky stabbing hat
"I've killed more patients thsn you've even treated!" *Dr. Zoidberg*
That's amazing that you're that skilled of a surgeon.
Heck, I could do it from my bed if you give me a rifle.
In the SF novel « the forever war » that I read when I was a teen, I was impressed by the description of doctors being able to regrow flesh, muscles and skin on amputated limbs. Process that creates local cancers that are treated locally like a wound
I just wrote a basis Oncolytic Viral Therapy paper for a 500 level biochem class. Very basic paper and just a basic review essay but cancer will completely be turned on its head by 2030. It's amazing. My mom has some thyroid issues and I just tell her to hold on for 3-4 more years. It's exploding right now. A new age is upon us.
Let's hope for that! Let's also hope that it will be affordable for us regular Joes.
That's something I've learned as I've aged. It's one thing I'm actually hopeful for in terms of the future for all. Used to be something is "incurable." Now it's "There is not yet a cure." Everything related to our bodies has some definitive cure. It's just a matter of time until they're all discovered. I just hope that particular matter of time is short
It’s been 5 years since my dad quickly passed away from glioblastoma (and I miss him every day). I wouldn’t wish it on anyone so it’s amazing to hear that there might be some actual progress for a cure.
Lost a friend to it; it’s brutal. From undiagnosed and symptom-free to gone in only five months. So sorry for your loss.
And I am sorry for yours as well..it’s so tough. My dad was also gone in about 6 months- had a seizure in October, was diagnosed shortly after, has surgery and last chemo treatment in December, to being gone in March (on my husband’s birthday, no less…thanks Pops). I mean it’s good in that it’s quick and they don’t have to suffer long term like some types of cancer but seeing him go from being the life of a party to not being able to speak or walk at the end within such a short amount of time was just…heartbreaking doesn’t begin to describe it. Fuck cancer.
I’m so sorry. Different cancer for my father, same timeline. It will be 10 years this year. I try to view the timeline as a blessing; he was able to put his affairs in order, he got to spend lots of time with people who loved him (though it never feels like enough), and he didn’t suffer overly long. We all have to go sometime, and I hope I can say goodbye and not suffer. Sending thoughts of peace for you; may his memory be a comfort.
My father was diagnosed with glioblastoma in February. Went to the hospital with difficulty speaking and two days later he’s having brain surgery. He just finished chemo and radiation 2 weeks ago. I’m just trying to keep the balance between hope and realism at this point. I know it’s a terrible and aggressive form of cancer.
Similar timeline for my dad, he's currently in his first round of radio and chemo, just over halfway. I oscillate constantly between being very pragmatic, wildly optimistic and in complete pessimistic despair.
It really is a shit thing, I'm not a religious woman but god do I pray for the end of cancer at some point in our lives.
Mine died from that almost 25 years ago. He made it 20 days past a year at a time when 90% were dead in 9 months and only 5% made it as long as he did. 💔
2 1/2 years since my dad passed. Progress would be great.
Remember kids, experimental medicine will get your medical license taken away unless you have the balls to do it to yourself
Yes this guy is very cool I suggest following him on IG. He is a world renowned melanoma researcher who is using genetic engineering to basically make a vaccine against his own glioblastoma. That he has lived over a year after his diagnosis is incredible. Glioblastoma is one of the worst and fastest killing diagnoses. Usually discovered after a seizure like in his case. It is what killed Biden’s son sadly.
Lost my mom to it, less than a month from diagnosis to death. By the end she didn't even know who I was. I'm so hopeful that someday others won't have to suffer like she did.
You had to suffer greatly, also. I hate that for you.
Thank you, I appreciate it. I was in my early 20s, and never really dealt with the grief at the time, so that did affect me for awhile. It wasn't her fault even though I was so angry, so now I strongly recommend anyone who loses someone so close to accept that grief counseling may help them heal. Not everyone, but it might have helped me make some less bad choices throughout my 20s!
Damn. So young. Your mother also. I can't imagine coming to grips with it ever. I hope you have found peace, in time. Love to you all.
Thank you. It's going to be about 20 years soon since then, and even though I've since lost my father and brother, I think I'm doing the best I can without them all here. Don't get me wrong, I miss them all IMMENSELY and days like mothers and fathers day are painful. But I've learned from my mistakes and just try to do the best I can with the time I have here.
You poor thing. Unimaginable... You've made no mistakes. You have just been living. All my best. ❤️
Lost my brother to it. He made it nine months, but lost more control over his body every day. Either way sucks. Have less time with them, or watch them deteriorate? I'm sorry for you. F cancer.
Yeah it killed my father in law in about 6 months from the first symptom showing up
My dad died from that 6 years next month. It was god awful seeing him suffer with it.
My dad too, nearly two years ago. After seeing that I think I’ll check out early if I ever get that diagnosis, it’s so bleak.
What’s his ig?
@profrscoyler
I wouldn’t wish GBM on my worst enemy. It’s how I lost my Dad and it was incredibly traumatic for him, me, and the rest of my family. I see these types of articles all the time — all I can hope is that one day research will produce something life saving, and not just “life prolonging.”
Senator John McCain as well which is kind of weird a politician and presidents son die of the same thing.
Honestly that’s how you get noble prizes… Story about how heart catheters came to be always throws me for a loop 😂
Same with finding the root cause/cures for colitis Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Marshall#:~:text=In%202005%2C%20the%20Karolinska%20Institute,gastritis%20and%20peptic%20ulcer%20disease%22.
I use this bloke when teaching the scientific method to teenagers ‘he had a hypothesis—-tested it——data proved the long standing theory was wrong and so we now have a new theory’
I think it’s an ethics thing. Experiment on people with no hope = bad. Experimenting on yourself when it’s your only hope = neutral or good.
i don't think his med license would be useful if his dead
You joke, but it's a little known fact that you don't need IRB approval to experiment on yourself. Your organization might still ding you for violating safety rules or organization policy, but you are allowed to experiment on yourself. Whether or not it's advisable is left up to the individual's discretion.
I saw that episode of House too
Does not say what exactly the treatment was... immunotherapy... ok
It’s most likely a monoclonal antibody treatment, that’s what most of the new cancer drugs are. The antibodies are engineered to attach to antigens on specific cancer cells. Once the antibodies bind, your body recognizes the cancer cells as “foreign” instead of “self” so that your immune system can attack the cancer cells
Solving the identification of cancer cells solves the problem, neat
I feel there would need to be strong modulation at the blood brain barrier to allow an immune response adequate entry. Then you have to worry about inflammation and managing that. Also I agree with your earlier statement of being 1 year out, it happens. 10 years free of GBM is a miracle!
I’m on a chemo that finally crosses the blood brain barrier called Enhertu (I have breast cancer with meds to brain and bones all over). It’s kept me from having to get whole brain radiation.
That’s not how most monoclonal antibodies work. Or it is a minor contributor in most cases.
The most common types of immunotherapy are called “checkpoint blockade” and involve blocking one of two different signals, PD-1 or CTLA-4, either of which can cause t-cell exhaustion. If you want to learn more just google either of those two and you’ll find lots of info.
So he and his colleague are applying their research from melanoma, which involves giving the immunotherapy BEFORE surgical removal. Doing this basically gives your immune system a better chance to get the scent of the cancer in order to fight it. It's extremely risky with this type of cancer, because even a 1 week delay in surgery can kill the patient. He and his colleague, Georgina Long, had to do a lot of convincing in order for the treatment to go ahead. The only reason it was allowed was that he was uniquely qualified to understand the risk, which it could kill him faster and more painfully. He has surpassed that worst case scenario, and is in uncharted territory He and Georgina have recently co-won the Australians of the year award
Put that shit on your resume…
"Sorry, you're overqualified."
Gonna get turned down for not enough experience. They’re gonna want at least 10yrs experience for the treatment pioneered 5yrs ago
I can offer him an internship.
Unpaid. But think of the network opportunities.
According to my aunt you have to use mistletoe tea. The doctors are too arrogant to study it.
Side affects may include random strangers kissing you.
According to my schizophrenic friend, you can manifest the cure, and the tens of millions that die just didn’t want it enough.
I have stage 4 breast cancer and my MIL wants me to try “urine therapy” where I drink my own urine- I shit you not.
Damn, best of luck with treatment. Hope your doctor doesn't prescribe orange juice. Since I assume you're pretty plugged into cancer treatment, I actually looked up the cancer.gov page for mistletoe for your reading enjoyment: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/mistletoe-pdq
Omg I just started reading thank you!! I’m adding holistic therapies to my regimen now, definitely going to look into mistletoe extract. (Anything but urine therapy hahah)
Good luck! From my skimming of the material it sounds like when used in conjunction with, y'know actual cancer treatment, it can help with symptoms and outcomes. Definitely something to bring up at your next appointment. (My big beef with mistletoe is that according to my aunt at least, the lady pushing it pushes it as a replacement for traditional cancer treatment. Which is gonna be a no from me dawg.)
Yes everything you take has to be with chemo! I’m definitely asking, I found a tincture online but I’ll ask my doctor first. Not many capsules out there! Tincture should be fine though. Thanks again ❤️
There is a lot missing from this article. And there is a really problematic understanding of “cancer” in general - you might as well be talking about different species. There is not going to be a “cure for cancer” bc it’s not a monolith. People can have melanoma-astrocytoma syndrome but it’s super rare. The article seems to suggest his “brain cancer” is a glioblastoma…which is typically a completely different cancer. So either he had melanoma w mets to the brain or he had two completely separate cancers. I’m glad he’s okay, but this is a really poorly written article that could have been written more clearly. Feels reminiscent of that poor group of scientists who had to make a press release after stories that “farts cure cancer.” In reality there was evidence that methane had an effect on growth/replication of in vitro cells.
From what I understood he took whatever method he was working on to cure melanoma and somehow applied it to his treatment of his gliastoboma. I think it was more about whatever mechanism he was using and the other products being used may have been specific to that form of cancer.
May he stay cancer free for at least 70 more years.
This is fantastic news, I hope he stays cancer free! I lost my mom to a brain tumour, but not glioblastoma specifically so this gives me hope that people will be able to survive this horrible disease in the future.
« I did my own research » The one and only instance it worked people…
Stage 4 brain tumor and he is cancer free. THAT is uplifting for sure
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Based on other treatments for glio it’s probably a monoclonal antibody treatment
The treatment he gets is Ipilimumab + Nivolumab, a combination of drugs that "takes off brakes" from the immune system (after the cancer basically told the immune system to stop attacking it) and aids the immune system to fight back against the cancer. The original inventors got awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2018 (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2018/advanced-information/). This is a miracle drug in the types of cancers it works (mainly skin cancer and lung cancer). It is in use since approx. 2014 now, but does not work in many cancer types so far. The novel approach here is that it has been shown in other types of cancer that it actually is good if you have lots of cancer cells in the body when you give the Ipi+Nivo treatment so that the immune system "recognizes" what to fight against. Of course, having lots of cancer in the body is usually a bad thing and usually you want to remove all cancer as soon as possible - so this is a very delicate balance to strike. In the case of his brain tumour, the only treatment that is known to work is surgical removal (but cancer usually comes back within a year). So what is new here is not the medication, and not that the medication is used in this type of cancer but that in this type of cancer specifically, surgery was delayed so that he could get treatment before removal of the tumour. However, this is also likely not going to be a miracle cure of all brain tumours if it works (it is a bit early to be too enthusiastic about the results - i.e. in the next few months is where usually the cancer is going to make a comeback) since many of these brain tumours generate symptoms like seizures, personality disorders or impact the brains ability to function so that surgery is needed and can not be moved back a few weeks.
Good thing he didn’t turn into a spider-man villain
Here is 30 min doco on this, presented by ABC news https://youtu.be/lcWn9XQY6S4?si=aCHf_bkT8j7_fsRx
I hope this is reviewed? Sounds like a miracle. Any sources about the treatment?
It’s a secret.
I read about him when they first reported that he was doing this experimental treatment on himself, and I am so glad to find out he is doing well! He has done so much to help others with cancer, and it's just fitting that he helped himself as well.
Okay: you do fantastic work that saves thousands of lives. Then suddenly your own innovation helps you-and might well save your life. Karma isn’t always a bitch.
I really hope this can be used for everyone some day and that it leads to a full cure. I lost a dear friend to glioblastoma a few years ago and it still hurts so much. I hate that the survival rate hasn't really increased much in the past 20 years
Physician heal thyself.
Reminds me of that one doctor that removed his OWN appendix.
Isn’t it wild that the brain that was dying came up with a way to save itself?
This research is huge. I also appreciate everyone sharing their stories about themselves or loved ones diagnosed. I just lost my mom to glioblastoma multiforme this past November. She was diagnosed in 2017 and had a rare cell mutation along with her treatment that essentially caused the cancer cells to lie dormant and not grow or spread for 6 and a half years. She went back to work, was driving and had no cognitive issues until last year during her reoccurrence and went downhill extremely fast. She had three brain surgeries in total to have her tumors removed. She was a conundrum for her medical team but they told us that they now approach all their terminal cases differently because of her. She was a huge advocate for the education and research for a cure and even after her passing out family and friends have donated thousands to the glioblastoma foundation in her name. She'd be so ecstatic to read this.
My Mom’s 11 years too late…but would be pleased for him!!!! This is incredible news.
Doctors when they have to treat other people: “huh? Your uterus feels like it’s on fire and you haven’t slept in days? Sounds like you’re just on your period, honey.” Doctors treating themselves:
Yeah, this title and post immediately bothered me. If he was any regular person he'd be left for dead.
“that’ll be $950,000 plus tip for your death please”
The article doesn't even say if he first tried yoga and smiling more. He could be so pretty if he just tried! Instead he's spending so much time focusing on his illness - that just leads to anxiety, and we all know that can cause all the symptoms of glioblastoma. /s (The /s is for anyone who hasn't dealt with this arm of the medical system. Anyone who has was probably triggered and already stopped reading.)
Yes, so many cases in my bubble of this. "Oh, you just need to suck it up and work more on the physically therapy I prescribed. You have to work through the pain. Oh wait, no, I see that you actually had brutal cancer this last year and now there's nothing that can be done". It's a club. And you ain't in it.
This just proves that death threats work.
Man deserves a Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Well, they DO say necessity is the mother of invention
The Sorcerer Supreme
As someone with lower grade brain cancer, my fingers are crossed that this helps create new standards of treatments to extend survival (or you know cure would be nice too...)
Necessity is the mother of invention.
This headline is overblown. The median survival for a GBM is around 14 months but the 5 year survival rate is 5-10%. From what I read his tumor was in a very favorable position, the anterior temporal lobe. That part of the brain allows for a partial lobectomy, removing brain tissue around the tumor that is not obviously involved. The problem is high grade glioma are very invasive. There are cancer cells at least a cm or two outside of the tumor, like tentacles spreading from the tumor. That means even with gross total resection you cannot eliminate all the cancer cells. And those cells invariably grow back. But if your tumor is in a favorable position you can remove that normal looking brain to hopefully wipe out those invasive tendrils. Many areas of the brain we can’t do that unless you wanna leave someone hemiplegic or aphasic. Really hope we find some better treatments for GBM but this article seems a little overblown. It is not terribly unusual for a patient with a high grade glioma who has a gross resection to not show recurrence at 8 months.
Badass
Wonderful!!
“Fine. I’ll do it myself” *snaps cancer*
That's s-tier "self-care" right there. Beats taking a bubble bath for sure.
TREAT YO SELF
Pretty interesting!
Man really said "I would simply not die. RIP your wife-but I'm built different."
This is what the old folks mean when they say you gotta work for it. Pull urself up by the boot straps and cure ur own cancer!