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Richard Scolyer: Using my illness to push boundaries to obtain knowledge about glioblatoma

Richard Scolyer/X

Jul 9, 2024, 01:11

Richard Scolyer: Using my illness to push boundaries to obtain knowledge about glioblatoma

Richard Scolyer shared a post on X:

“I’m proud of being able to use my illness to push boundaries to obtain new scientific knowledge re the brain cancer glioblastoma.

Today is a special anniversary day for me. Instead of a stereotactic core biopsy for initial confirmatory diagnosis of my glioblastoma, one year, one month and one day ago today, I had a riskier open craniotomy surgical procedure.

This was performed to obtain more tumour tissue before I received a combination of different types of immunotherapy drugs neoadjuvantly (ie before debulking surgery which occurred 16 days later).

This facilitated subsequent more in depth scientific research to be conducted comparing my brain tumour before (pre) and after (post) I had received neoadjuvant combination immunotherapy.

The research, which has been submitted for publication and is undergoing external peer review, excitingly showed data that immunotherapy was having an effect on the number and type of immune cells within my tumour.

But ultimately a clinical trial needs to be performed to determine whether such changes with neoadjuvant combination immunotherapy translate into better clinical outcomes for glioblastoma patients.

A cancer journey is incredibly difficult for patients and their families and just as I continue to rely on my neuro-oncology clinical team for their expert guidance, I strongly encourage all brain cancer patients to continue consulting their own medical teams.”

Richard Scolyer

Source: Richard Scolyer/X

Professor Richard Scolyer AO is a Senior Staff Specialist in Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, and Co-Medical Director at Melanoma Institute Australia.

He is also a Conjoint Professor at Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney. In June 2021, he was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia for his distinguished service in melanoma and skin cancer research.

Additionally, he is Vice Chair of the Melanoma Expert Panel for the AJCC Cancer Staging System and co-leads the Australian Melanoma Genome Project.