A UK man’s “aggressive” brain tumor shrank in size by “50%” after a first-of-its-kind treatment for a type of cancer that usually kills patients within 18 months.
The experimental trial was tested on Paul Read, a 62-year-old engineer who was diagnosed with glioblastoma – a cancer that kills most patients within a year and a half – in December 2023.
To start the experimental treatment being developed at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Foundation Trust, doctors asked surgeons to remove as much of his tumor as possible and then implanted a small device called an Ommaya reservoir right under his scalp, according to the BBC.
Once the device was in place, doctors would inject low levels of radioactivity directly into the tumor once a week for six weeks. This process was intended to kill cancer cells while leaving healthy tissue unharmed.
Findings from the trial were released Tuesday, and they had startling results.
Brain scans revealed that Read’s tumor had “reduced in size by 50%” at the end of his six-week treatment.
“We just passed [Paul’s] the scan results with him and his scan at the end of treatment shows a reduction in the tumor, which is really quite remarkable for someone whose tumor is so aggressive,” said Dr. Paul Mulholland, consultant medical oncologist and principal investigator of UCLH, who designed the trial.
“This trial was a lifesaver as the odds of survival, according to the data, were a year or less for me,” Read said in a statement from UCLH.
No side effects were reported by Read other than just feeling “a little more tired.”
In the early days, Read’s symptoms began with a headache during a business trip to South Korea, and the pain continued when he returned to his small town in north London. Two weeks later his face fell to one side and he was diagnosed with glioblastoma.
Soon after, his doctors tried to remove as much of the tumor as possible and he then underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but the treatment did not last because the tumor was growing again in July.
The CITADEL-123 trial at UCLH was offered to Read and he “was happy to explore anything” that would treat his condition.
“We’re all dealt a hand of cards and you don’t know which ones you’re going to get,” Read added.
Before seeing the remarkable results, he said “it would be great if this treatment helps me and if it doesn’t, it won’t… it might benefit someone else down the line.”
The medical team has started a second patient on the same procedure, and they plan to eventually treat up to 40 patients in the phase 1 trial.
“I am very pleased that this clinical trial is now open. “This is potentially a very powerful approach and I am already extremely pleased with the results of the first patient,” said Dr. Mulholland.
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