Brain cancer remains incurable, fatal
May 19, 2009
By David Hayes
Issaquah resident Heather Chamberlain holds a photo of her sister Jenny Lee Higley Lynch who seemingly randomly developed a brain tumor at age 32. By David Hayes
Walkathon’s aim is to also raise community awareness
In the past 100 years, the diagnosis of a glioblastoma, or malignant brain tumor, has essentially been a death sentence.
Issaquah resident Heather Chamberlain dealt with that harsh reality when her sister, Jenny, was diagnosed with the incurable brain cancer in 2006.
“They never figured out why she got it,” Chamberlain said. “It was odd. It doesn’t usually strike someone that young.”
Chamberlain said there was no family history of cancer, so they were shocked when Jenny, 32, was diagnosed — especially since she was pregnant.“It was awful. It was horribly hard, like a nightmare, especially with me here and she in Utah,” Chamberlain said.
Because of the pregnancy, doctors were unable to aggressively treat the cancer. Jenny died not long after carrying her child to term, just two and a half years after being diagnosed.
Dr. Greg Foltz, chief of neurosurgery at the Swedish Neuroscience Center in Seattle, confirmed that the outlook for patients with the disease remains grim.
“Inevitably, a diagnosis of glioblastoma is fatal. There is no cure,” he said.
In the past 100 years, there have only been three treatments to brain cancer, with one of them being Avastin, a drug just introduced two weeks ago.
“Unfortunately, all three address improving quality of life, not a cure,” Foltz said.
Science has gotten better at the treatment of cancer in other parts of the body, he said, such as in the breast and prostate. Unfortunately, because brain cancer strike so few compared to the other types, it gets less attention and thus, less funding for finding a cure.
“The other diseases get a lot more resources through fundraising and scientists dedicated to research,” Foltz said. “I have no doubt if we applied the same approach to brain cancer, we’d experience more breakthroughs.”
The biggest problem with the disease is how random it is. Foltz himself is treating two teens this year alone. There are no known predisposing factors. Most cases are diagnosed when a patient has a seizure. Or, if the tumor is near an important structure of the brain, the patient may experience impacts to speech, coordination or weakness.
The problem with removing a tumor, Foltz said, is cells migrate away from the tumor site, lie dormant in the brain and grow back into another tumor within a year.
All patients are treated with radiation and chemotherapy, and then do all they can to improve their quality of life in their remaining time.
“We do get the occasional superstar, who far exceeds the standard survival rate, living out to five years,” Foltz said.
The key is to learn as much as possible from these patients. That’s an advantage with the Swedish facility, one of the few in the United States, and only one in the Pacific Northwest, that performs both treatments and research.
Since losing her sister, Chamberlain has discovered the work done at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute. She said she was even pleasantly surprised to learn of a new effort to bring the disease into the forefront of community awareness —the inaugural Seattle Brain Cancer Walk.
The event raised more than $120,000 last year for the Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute. About 500 participants walked the track at Mercer Island High School. Chamberlain walked 32 laps, the number of her sister’s age.
“It was an awesome event, well attended, especially since it was the first one,” she said. “Everyone was very supportive and it was well organized. They made it really fun and personal.”
Chamberlain plans to form another team this year with her friend Amy, whose father died from brain cancer. They plan to call their team Brain Stormtroopers. So far, there are eight members. They are seeking up to 20 to help raise $5,000.
“We set the goal really high,” Chamberlain admitted, adding she plans to walk at least 32 laps again in tribute to Jenny. “But we’ll be happy with whatever we get.
“The event is made all the easier when you realize you’re doing it with people who are dealing with the same thing.”
Brain cancer facts
Each year, more than 200,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a primary (cancer cells specific to the brain only) or metastatic (cancer cells that have spread to the brain from another part of the body) brain tumor. Primary brain tumors make up about 40,000 of the diagnoses.
Brain cancer is the most malignant form of cancer known to humankind.
Approximately 22,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with terminal brain cancer this year.
The average survival rate for patients with malignant brain cancer is only one year to two years.
Brain cancer survival rates have not changed by much in the past 100 years.
Only two new treatments for brain tumors have been approved in the past 25 years.
There is no known cure for malignant brain cancer.
Reach Reporter David Hayes at 392-6434, ext. 237, or dhayes@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.issaquahpress.com.
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5 Responses to “Brain cancer remains incurable, fatal”
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Please remember that statistics reflect people’s history and yes, GBM is grim and the outlook remains bleak for many, but there’s always hope that somewhere, right now, a cure is being developed. My daughter is a 6 year brain cancer survivor, and although it did come back within a year after the first surgery, and necessitated a second surgery, her subsequent MRI’s have come back stable since August 2004. She’s happily married and off of all chemo, enjoying life being married to her high school sweetheart, and taking only 2 pills a day for seizure prevention.
I hope that the research continues and becomes more in depth. No one would wish, even to their worst enemies, the kind of death that brain cancer brings. It’s horrific. I hope that the Swedish Institue keeps up the good work! And I thank them very much for all their efforts and hard work. Thank you, Thank you.
July 10, 2009 my father was told he had GBM Cancer. This is very deadly and it hurts so bad to see how this have progressed in such a short time. He had surgery in July and could not remove it all. They left half in which was the size of a lemon. Wow, I know…I have to sit and watch my father pass away, wondering what went wrong, where did this come from, how did he get this deadly cancer? I know cancer apparently runs in his family, so many have did of some type of cancer, but never this. Right now, I am taking it one day at a time. Can’t hardly sleep well at night or eat. My heart aches for my father. I hope and pray, when my time come…I will know how to deal with the lost of a parent. Its coming sooner than later and I am trying to prepare myself everyday. I wish there was some kind of cure for this its a terrible way to leave this world. I miss my father already. What am I going to do? I long for him. This can’t be happening I think at times, then I get a reality check and realize its all so true.
My business partner was recently diagnosed with brain cancer. This person is truly the “Michaelangelo” of automotive genius. He is the Enzo Farrari, Zora Duntov, and John DeLorean of car history. His innate ability to see what others don’t understand is right in front of them is mystical. He has devoted his life to achieve what is poised to be the greatest moment of his career and now just when he is about to cross the finish line the race has begun to extract this information from this mind and get it all on paper before it is lost. This is a bittersweet culmination for this man and his dream and I as his business partner am determined to keep his dream alive. A mind is a terrible thing to waste and brain cancer is wasting a great mind.
I truely pray something will be found to fight an kill brain tumors. My 5 year old daughter died from a brain tumor 6 years ago. It was a grade 5 tumor and the doctors told me nothing could be done. The only words said to me in my life that hurts. I will always pray something will be done so others wouldn’t feel the pain me and my family has as well as others.