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Australian doctor manages to contain a terminal brain tumor after undergoing an experimental treatment he designed himself

Richard Scolyer was diagnosed with glioblastoma last year. Twelve months later, his last MRI shows that there is no trace of the brain tumor.

Captura de pantalla de un vídeo proporcionado por ABC News In-depth en el que cuentan la historia del Dr. Richard Scolyer, el médico australiano que se está tratando para un cáncer cerebral terminal con un tratamiento que diseñó él mismo.

(YouTube: ABC News In-depth)

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Dr. Richard Scolyer achieved a scientific milestone that could be decisive in cancer treatment. The Australian doctor and co-director of the Melanoma Institute Australia, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma a year ago, has managed to contain this cancer after undergoing an experimental treatment that he designed himself. His latest MRI shows, Scolyer announced, that there is no recurrence of the tumor. That is, he is cancer-free.

This achievement, although it does not mean that Dr. Scolyer is permanently cured, is a major scientific advancement. Glioblastomas have a very low prognosis, less than 12 months. The Australian doctor has lived with the tumor for more than a year.

This is all thanks to a treatment that he, along with the help of his colleague Georgina Long, designed. Both, BBC reported, are experts in the treatment of melanoma, a skin cancer, and created a new technique that Dr. Scolyer decided to apply to himself after learning that he had brain cancer.

He decided to use the mechanism that he was developing to combat his disease and decided to use the immune system that the body naturally has to attack cancer cells. The procedure is known as combined immunotherapy and was accompanied by a "personalized" vaccine for his tumor.

Dr. Richard Scolyer is 'thrilled and delighted' with the first results of his brain tumor treatment

The discovery, although relevant, does not ensure that Dr. Richard Scolyer will survive his brain tumor. In fact, he assured that the possibilities are "minuscule" although, he says, he is "thrilled and delighted" with the preliminary results:

I'm just thrilled and delighted... couldn't be happier. It certainly doesn't mean that my brain cancer is cured... but it's just nice to know that it hasn't come back yet, so I've still got some more time to enjoy my life with my wife Katie and my three wonderful kids.

Meanwhile, he and Professor Long continue to develop their treatment. This research could help the more than 300,000 people who are diagnosed with a brain tumor each year. Although, to do this, says Professor Long, they still have to continue working:

We have generated a lot of data to then lay the foundation for the next step so that we can help more people. We haven't gotten to that point yet. What we really need to focus on is showing that this type of combination immunotherapy approach prior to surgery works in a large number of people.

Dr. Scolyer states that he is very proud of the first data that his treatment has collected and that he thanks the medical team and, especially, his family for supporting the "experiment":

I feel proud of the team that I work with. I feel proud that they're willing to take the risk in going down this path. [It] provides some hope that maybe this is a direction that's worth investigating more formally.
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