A revolutionary radioactive therapy has halved the size of a man’s aggressive brain tumor, raising hopes among experts for a significant advancement in cancer treatment.
Engineer Paul Read, 62, first experienced symptoms of a severe headache last December. His wife Pauline then suspected he might have had a stroke after noticing one side of his face drooping.
Mr Reed was later diagnosed with recurrent glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer that typically leads to death within 18 months.
The diagnosis followed the discovery of a sizable mass in his brain.
Despite surgery on December 27 and subsequent rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Mr. Read learned in July that his tumor was regrowing.
He said: “I was fully expecting the tumor to return due to its aggressive nature. I know the outcome isn’t great and I was happy to explore anything else.”
Soon after, he got the opportunity to be the inaugural participant in a clinical trial aimed at treating the disease, led by the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH).
The CITADEL-123 trial involves surgically excising as much of the tumor as possible, followed by the implantation of a small device known as an Ommaya reservoir beneath the scalp, which connects to the tumor through a thin tube.
The nuclear medicine team at UCLH administers a drug called ATT001 directly into the tumor, designed to repair DNA damage in cells while delivering a targeted dose of radioactivity.
Administered weekly over a span of four to six weeks, this drug inflicts fatal damage on the tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue.
Since commencing the experimental treatment, Mr. Read has experienced a remarkable 50% reduction in his tumor within just weeks.
He said: “This trial was a lifeline, as the likelihood of survival according to the data was a year or less for me.
“I am delighted to be given the opportunity to be part of this trial and I have not experienced any side effects from the injections.
“We are all dealt a hand of cards and you don’t know which ones you are going to get.
“It will be wonderful if this treatment helps me, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.
“I am more than happy – even if it doesn’t benefit me, it may help someone else down the line. So I have got nothing to lose and everything to hope for.”
Dr Paul Mulholland, a consultant medical oncologist at UCLH and the trial’s architect, noted that Mr. Read’s tumor reduction is “really quite remarkable for somebody whose tumor is so aggressive.”
He said: “We have to aim to cure this disease,” he emphasized. “Primary brain tumors do not metastasize around the body and generally remain localized in the brain.
“It doesn’t spread to the rest of the body, so using a targeted approach—directly into the tumor—makes sense.”