Children’s Cancer Institute Shares Jack’s Journey Through Brain Cancer and Clinical Trial Success
Children’s Cancer Institute shared a post on LinkedIn:
“An action kid from the start, Jack was bubbly, energetic and always full of life.
‘He could never sit still,’ says his dad, Alex.
But when Jack turned nine, things changed. There were periods of being absent and dazed. He became so sensitive to light he couldn’t look at an iPad.
Parents Viv and Alex took Jack to a neurologist, who agreed to do an MRI. The test showed up a large brain tumour. Although the tumour had grown quite big, it was classified as a low-grade glioma. A successful operation followed and Jack was given a positive prognosis.
‘We thought we were so lucky. Within three months, Jack was back to himself, had returned to school and the ordeal looked like it was over,’ says his mum, Viv.
But just over a year later, Jack woke with a terrible headache and started vomiting.
‘That’s when the nightmare began,’ says Viv.
Another MRI showed the cancer was back – but this time, it was everywhere. Fluid built on his brain, and he needed weekly lumbar punctures to relieve the pressure.
‘To see him so motionless, it was frightening. We don’t know Jack that way,’ Viv says.
Chemotherapy wasn’t working. Jack’s condition was rapidly deteriorating and he was fast running out of options.
‘Jack asked me: ‘Am I going to die?’ says dad Alex.
Jack was enrolled on the Zero Childhood Cancer Program clinical trial. A sample of his tumour was analysed, and where our researchers identified a specific genetic mutation likely to be driving the cancer, as well as a combination of drugs capable of treating it.
Within a few days of starting this personalised treatment, Jack was sitting up in bed. Six weeks later, he was playing tennis and riding his bike.
‘It was miraculous. In a matter of days, Jack was transformed back to himself,’ Viv says.
Today, Jack is thriving. He’s back at school and winning athletics awards.
‘You wouldn’t know he’d ever been ill, let alone that he had a brain tumour,’ says Viv.
This Brain Cancer Awareness Month, please help support this vital research and make a difference for children like Jack, by donating.”
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