A doctor has shared the five common warning signs of a deadly brain tumor that has a 15-month average life expectancy.
Glioblastoma, an aggressive and often fatal brain tumor, claims thousands of lives each year.
Most patients diagnosed with glioblastoma have a life expectancy of just 14 to 16 months. However, recognizing early warning signs can make a critical difference in diagnosing and potentially prolonging life.
One recent case that shed light on the cancer's subtle early symptoms is that of a 57-year-old UK father of four, Costa Fantis.
Fantis, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma, initially noticed a “strange sweet caramel smell".
“We didn’t think much of it,” Fantis’s 27-year-old son, Antonio, said. “We definitely didn’t know it was a symptom of something so serious.”
Similarly, in 2023, two-time Grammy winner Michael Bolton, 72, began to experience balance issues, sickness, unbearable headaches, and confusion before being diagnosed with glioblastoma.
These symptoms, while they may seem innocuous, are common precursors to the deadly tumor.
Dr. Joseph Georges, a neurosurgeon at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, spoke about the challenges of diagnosing glioblastoma, given its "invasive" nature.
“It spreads microscopic cancer cells deep into surrounding brain tissue, making it impossible to remove completely with surgery,” he explained to The New York Post.
Fantis’s glioblastoma appears to have developed in the temporal lobe, a part of the brain responsible for processing smells, which may explain the strange caramel scent he experienced.
Dr. Georges explained that symptoms like headaches, confusion, seizures, speech difficulty, or weakness on one side of the body can occur depending on the tumor's location.
In Bolton’s case, his daughters noticed unusual behavior during a family bowling night, and that was the first sign that something was wrong.
With about 14,500 new cases of glioblastoma diagnosed annually in the US, the risk factors are still not fully understood.
Dr. Georges points out that the cancer tends to affect adults aged 45 to 70 and that while some genetic disorders and exposure to ionizing radiation can increase the risk, most cases occur without any known risk factors.
Diagnosing glioblastoma involves a CT scan or MRI, with a tissue biopsy confirming the diagnosis. Despite advanced technology and treatments, glioblastoma remains one of the most challenging brain tumors to treat due to its diffuse growth and resistance to standard therapies.
“Complete removal is usually not achievable due to the tumor’s infiltrative nature,” Dr. Georges explained. Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are typically used together, but the prognosis remains poor.
However, Dr. Georges has witnessed promising results with a more personalized treatment approach: DOC1021, a specialized cell therapy. This innovative treatment uses the patient’s own immune cells, called dendritic cells, to target the tumor.
The cells are exposed to tumor antigens outside the body, then multiplied and returned to the patient to help fight the cancer.
"Because this approach uses the patient’s own immune cells and doesn’t require genetic modification, it offers a highly personalized and comprehensive way to address the complexity and variability of glioblastoma,” said Dr. Georges.
DOC1021, developed by Diakonos Oncology, has shown promising results, with some patients surviving 24 to 36 months, much longer than the typical 14 to 16 months.
Early clinical trials revealed a remarkable 88% overall survival rate at 12 months, significantly higher than the 60% survival rate typically seen with standard treatments.
One such patient, 65-year-old Pamela Goldberger from New Jersey, was diagnosed with glioblastoma and underwent surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and the DOC1021 cell therapy.
Two and a half years later, she’s back to playing tennis and living an active life. “I’m living my best life right now, and I’m not restricted by not being able to do anything that I would want to do,” she said.