Top doctor, 57, reveals he is cancer
An Australian doctor has revealed he has been cancer-free for a year after undergoing a world-first treatment based on his own breakthrough research.
Professor Richard Scolyer was diagnosed with 'incurable' grade 4 brain cancer after becoming ill in Poland last year.
This 'worst of the worst' type of cancer, known as glioblastoma, is so aggressive that most patients survive less than a year.
The 57-year-old underwent an experimental therapy based on his own research on melanoma, a type of cancer that starts in the skin.
Professor Richard Scolyer was treated with a combination of drugs before surgery in an attempt to teach his body's immune system to attack cancer cells
Professor Scolyer said he is 'thrilled and delighted' after being cancer-free after a year
On Monday, he wrote on X to say he had an MRI scan last week and there was still no sign of recurrence.
'I'm just thrilled and delighted... I couldn't be happier,' he said.
Professor Scolyer collaborated with his colleague and friend Professor Georgina Long, who are co-directors of the Melanoma Institute Australia.
The team used a treatment based on immunotherapy, which teaches the body's immune system to attack cancer cells.
The leading cancer specialist was diagnosed with a 'worst of the worst' brain cancer after suffering headaches and a seizure during a holiday to Europe
Professor Scolyer and Professor Georgina Long were jointly named Australian of the Year 2024 for their work on melanoma
WHAT IS A GLIOBLASTOMA?
Glioblastomas are the most common cancerous brain tumours in adults.
They are fast growing and likely to spread.
Glioblastomas' cause is unknown but may be related to a sufferer's genes if mutations result in cells growing uncontrollably, forming a tumour.
Treatment is usually surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible, followed by a combination of radio- and chemotherapy (chemoradiation).
It can be difficult to remove all of the growth as glioblastomas have tendrils that extend to other regions of the brain. These are targeted via chemoradiation.
Glioblastomas are often resistant to treatment as they are usually made up of different types of cells. Therefore, medication will kill off some cells and not others.
The average survival time is between 12 and 18 months.
Source: The Brain Tumour Charity
AdvertisementResearch on melanoma showed immunotherapy works better when a combination of drugs is administered before the surgery to remove a tumour.
Professor Scolyer became the first brain cancer patient in the world to take a combination of immunotherapy drugs pre-surgery.
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.
He told the BBC: 'I'm the best I have felt for yonks.
'It certainly doesn't mean that my brain cancer is cured… but it's just nice to know that it hasn't come back yet, so I've still got some more time to enjoy my life with my wife Katie and my three wonderful kids.'
Professor Scolyer was diagnosed last June after suffering headaches and a seizure during a holiday in Poland.
He underwent a brain scan, which revealed an area of light, cloudy matter in the top-right corner of his skull.
At the time, he said: 'I'm no expert in radiology, but… in my heart I knew it was a tumour.'
Rather than accept his inevitable fate, Professor Scolyer, known as one of the world's leading cancer experts, set about trying to find a treatment.
'It didn't sit right with me, to just accept certain death without trying something,' he said. 'It's an incurable cancer? Well bugger that!'
He added he is proud of his team for persevering with the 'experimental' treatment, adding: '[It] provides some hope that maybe this is a direction that's worth investigating more formally.'
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Around 300,000 people worldwide are diagnosed with glioblastoma each year. It's hoped Professor Scolyer's experimental treatment will lead to clinical trials for other patients, potentially extending their lives.
Professor Long said: 'We've generated a whole heap of data, to then make a foundation for that next step, so that we can help more people.
'We're not there yet. What we have to really focus on is showing that this pre-surgery, combination immunotherapy type of approach works in a large number of people.'
Both Professor Scolyer and Professor Long were named Australian of the Year earlier this year for their life-saving work on melanoma treatments.
Dr Roger Stupp, after whom the current protocol for treating glioblastomas is named, previously described Professor Scolyer's prognosis as 'grim', and that it was too early to tell if the treatment is working.
He said he wanted to see him reach 12 months, even 18, without recurrence before getting excited.
Helen Bulbeck, of brain tumour charity Brainstrust, said: 'As patients, all we ask for is time with loved ones and to be ourselves for as long as possible in the face of a brain tumour diagnosis, and Dr Scolyer has found this.
'As a charity we support the promise of new treatments, more trials and anything that brings hope to what feels like a forgotten community of people with glioblastoma.
'The research landscape has been desolate for so long, but now we’re hopeful that the coming phase of next-generation immunotherapies is poised to bring us closer to treatments that will improve the lives of patients. In the meantime we are right behind Dr Scolyer. We congratulate him on 12 months without recurrence, and we wish him many more happy, healthy years ahead.'
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