A clinical trial in the U.K. is seeing a remarkable result. On Tuesday, University College London Hospitals’ NHS Foundation Trust announced in a press release that its brain cancer clinical trial had seen one man’s tumor shrink by 50 percent.
Paul, a 62-year-old engineer, was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer in December 2023 after he sought help for a severe headache. He underwent surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, only to find out his tumor had returned in July.
Following that devastating news, Paul became the first patient to enter in to a new trial, CITADEL-123.
“It was good to have another option. I was fully expecting the tumor to return due to its aggressive nature,” Paul said. “I know the outcome isn’t great and I was happy to explore anything else.”
The trial involved having a small medical device called an Ommaya reservoir implanted under the scalp. The device was connected to a small tube into the tumor area.
Through that tube, doctors are able to inject the drug ATT001 into the tumor. The drug delivers small amounts of radioactivity. It is thought to damage and/or kill the tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue.
The treatment begins 14 days after surgery. Weekly injections follow for the next four to six weeks. For Paul, the results were incredible as his tumor shrank by half.
“I’m very pleased that this clinical trial is now open. Potentially this is a very powerful approach and I’m already extremely happy with the results from the first patient,” Dr. Paul Mulholland, the oncologist running the trial, said. “I’m also very proud at how my colleagues in neurosurgery and nuclear medicine have come together as a team to deliver a really novel trial.”
Paul Looks Ahead to the Future
While Paul is aware that is tumor “may still reoccur,” he said the study provides “some hope and longevity” for patients with similar diagnoses.
“If this trial is successful it would indicate to me that it will now, perhaps, become manageable instead of treatable until the normal expected end of life looms,” he said. “… Even if it does not directly benefit me, I have the hope that it will feed into the knowledge bank for glioblastoma and other brain cancers and help other sufferers in the future.”
“I’m not frightened by any of this. We are all dealt a hand of cards and you don’t know which ones you are going to get,” Paul added. “It will be wonderful if this treatment helps me and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I am more than happy, even it if doesn’t benefit me, it may benefit someone else down the line. So I have got nothing to lose and everything to hope for.”
The post Man’s Brain Tumor Shrinks by Half Amid Clinical Trial appeared first on VICE.
The post Man’s Brain Tumor Shrinks by Half Amid Clinical Trial appeared first on VICE.
