A 43-year-old UK man has become a medical miracle by overcoming deadly brain cancer through an innovative immunotherapy approach. Ben Trotman was the first global patient to participate in a groundbreaking clinical trial using the drug ipilimumab. His successful treatment offers unprecedented hope for patients diagnosed with aggressive glioblastoma. Medical experts are optimistic about the potential of this revolutionary treatment method.
"It
is very unusual to have a clear scan with glioblastoma" - Dr. Paul
Mulholland, UCLH Consultant
A
43-year-old UK man has been declared free from deadly glioblastoma -- the most
aggressive and common type of primary brain tumour -- after taking the new
immunotherapy drug.
Key
Points
1 First global patient in ipilimumab immunotherapy brain
cancer trial
2 Treated before standard cancer protocols
3 Survived beyond typical nine-month glioblastoma
prognosis
4 Breakthrough offers hope for aggressive brain tumor
patients
Ben
Trotman was 40 years old when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma.
He
became the first patient in the world to participate in a groundbreaking trial
of the immunotherapy drug -- ipilimumab -- at the University College London
Hospitals (UCLH) in the UK.
Trotman
received ipilimumab before the standard treatment when the immune system is at
its strongest.
Following
treatment, he underwent the current standard treatment of surgery,
radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.
More
than two and a half years on from treatment, "Trotman is doing well with
no active tumour present on scans," the university said in a statement.
"It
is very unusual to have a clear scan with glioblastoma, especially when he
didn't have the follow-up surgery that had been planned to remove all of the
tumour that was initially visible on scans. We hope that the immunotherapy and
follow-up treatment Ben has had will hold his tumour at bay, and it has so far,
which we are delighted to see," said Dr Paul Mulholland, consultant
medical oncologist at UCLH, who led the trial.
"The
crucial element of this trial is that patients will have their immune system
boosted by the drug before they have any other treatment, when they are fit and
well enough to tolerate the immunotherapy," he added.
Glioblastoma
is the most aggressive form of brain cancer with a poor prognosis. Most
patients survive just nine months after diagnosis.
"I
was in a clinical trial of one, which is why we don't know what the future
holds. I am delighted that this new trial, with the same immunotherapy drug I
received, is going ahead, and others will have the opportunity to take part. It
will give people newly diagnosed with glioblastoma some hope," said
Trotman.
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