In the United Kingdom, a 52-year-old woman survived an aggressive brain tumor, diagnosed five years ago. Doctors thought that she only had a few months to live and wanted to conduct research to understand what allowed her to get out of it.
- In the United Kingdom, a 52-year-old woman survived a stage 4 glioblastoma.
- The survival rate of the disease at 5 years is only 5 %.
- Scientists now seek to identify the biological factors that explain this survival.
It’s a “great surviving“Cancer according to doctors. In the United Kingdom, Katherine Webster, 52, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma of stadium 4 in March 2020. One in four patients survived this aggressive brain tumor more than a year, and only 5 % remain alive five years later. Cambridge University Hospitals are interested in the case of this patient.
Cancer: she had to survive a few months and recovers from an aggressive tumor
To treat her cancer, the fifties received a treatment for radiotherapy and chemotherapy, as well as a surgery. Declared in remission by the medical team, however, she keeps consequences of the disease. In a press releaseCambridge university hospitals specify that she suffers from memory loss, and that she had to follow physiotherapy to help her rehabilitate her right side, but she claims to be carrying “remarkably GOOD”. “”I don’t really know what secret that I am still alive, She says in a video. I was told that I only had a few months left to live, not years. Almost five years after receiving this cancer diagnosis, I try to make the most of life, I live every day as if it were the last. “
Katherine Webster notably resumed rowing, a sport she practiced in competition before her illness. “”Rowing is a great passion, so the idea of returning to water allowed me to cross radiation therapy and chemotherapy, she says. After having received such a shocking prognosis, it is such a joy today for me to be on the river again. I cannot believe that I am potentially one of these ‘super-survivors of cancer’. “
Aggressive tumor: super-survivors who interest science
The latter interest the scientific community. In March, the fifties will be invited to participate in a vast international study whose objective is to identify the biological factors which explain this long -term survival. “”The British phase of the study is coordinated by the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with eight British hospitals joining other hospitals worldwide seeking to identify the small percentage of patients with cancer who thwart prognosis and survive years After being diagnosed “develop the academic hospitals of Cambridge.
Researchers will be interested in three particularly aggressive cancers:
- Small cell lung cancer in advanced stages;
- pancreatic cancer of the same gravity;
- glioblastoma.
These scientists wish to collect tumor samples of more than 1,000 patients, among the 3 % at the largest survival rate. “”We don’t just want to hear stories like Katherine’s – we want to teachS “, underlines Dr. Thankamma Ajithkumar, oncologist, in charge of the British part of this future study. Ultimately, this could improve the survival of all patients with aggressive cancer.
