‘Antiques Roadshow’ Star Theo Burrell, 38, Who’s Living With Brain Cancer, Says It’s Been 43 Months Since Her Glioblastoma Diagnosis, ‘If My Story Gives 5 Seconds of Hope, Grab It’

Gliomas begin in the brain and can range from slow‑growing to highly aggressive. Glioblastoma (GBM), the most severe form, is known for its rapid growth and spread. With treatment, average survival is about 15 months; without treatment, it often drops to less than six.

Chemotherapy remains a key part of care, stopping cancer cells from multiplying. But it also affects healthy cells, leading to difficult side effects like nausea, vomiting, hair loss, and overwhelming fatigue.

WATCH: Understanding Types & Standard of Care for Gliomas

“Fatigue is almost universal among patients,” says Dr. Renata Urban, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington.

While nausea can often be controlled with medication, she notes that managing fatigue is far more individualized. She adds that neuropathy—nerve damage that causes tingling, pain, or weakness—is another challenging side effect that may improve after treatment but can persist.

Earlier this year, Burrell shared that she was recovering from another surgery.

RELATED: A Neuro-Oncologist’s Three Tips For Newly Diagnosed Glioma Patients

What to Consider Ahead of Brain Surgery

Some areas of the brain are considered “eloquent” — meaning they control critical functions with little to no redundancy. Removing or damaging these areas can lead to severe neurological deficits.

WATCH: Where the Tumor is Located in the Brain Matters

“There are tumors that — because of where they’re growing — we can’t make a big difference,” Dr. D. Ryan Ormond, a neurosurgeon from the University of Colorado in Denver, tells SurvivorNet. “Those tumors, we would often just biopsy and then send the patient on [to other therapies] regardless of grade.”

Regions that may be inoperable include:

• Brainstem: This area controls vital functions like breathing, heart rate, and consciousness. Surgery in this region is highly risky.
• Primary Motor Cortex: Responsible for voluntary movement; damage to this area can result in permanent paralysis.
• Speech Center (Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas): Located in the left hemisphere for most people, these areas control language comprehension and speech production.
• Internal Capsule: This is a deep brain structure that carries critical motor and sensory signals between the brain and spinal cord.
• Thalamus: This is a relay center for sensory and motor signals. Damage can lead to sensory loss and movement disorders.
• Visual Cortex: Located in the occipital lobe, this area processes vision. Surgical damage can cause partial or complete blindness.
• Somatosensory Cortex: Responsible for processing sensory information; damage can result in loss of sensation.

When a tumor is located in these areas, surgeons must weigh the benefits of removing it against the likelihood of causing severe impairments. In some cases, alternative treatments like chemotherapy or radiation may be recommended instead of surgery.

“So far, I’m feeling pretty good. My eyesight has taken a bit of a bashing, so we’ll see how that goes, but otherwise I’m very much in one piece. I had the same surgeon as 3.5 years ago, and I trusted him completely,” she wrote.

As a mother of one, Burrell knows she has become a source of strength for others navigating this challenging disease—and she hopes to keep offering that spark of encouragement.

“Hope can be thin on the ground in this experience. But if my story gives you even five seconds of hope, then grab it with both hands,” she said.

Better Understanding Brain Tumors

Brain tumors can impact a person’s cognitive function and overall well-being, depending largely on the tumor’s size, type, and specific location within the brain. When large enough, tumors may interfere with the central nervous system, pressing on nearby nerves, blood vessels, or tissues. This disruption may result in difficulties with coordination, balance, or mobility.

According to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), brain tumors make up 85–90% of all primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors. They can be benign or malignant, with treatment and symptoms varying based on tumor type and location.

“The goal is to remove as much of the tumor as we can while keeping the patient well neurologically,” Dr. Reid Thompson, Chair of Neurosurgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet. In other words, to remove as much of the tumor as possible without causing harm to the patient.

Even though surgery can remove a large part of the tumor, any remaining cancer cells can continue to grow over time, leading to the tumor’s return. For this reason, surgery is often followed by other treatments, like radiation or chemotherapy, to try to eliminate any remaining cells.

WATCH: Hope for Glioblastoma Research

While some brain tumors cause noticeable symptoms, others can go unnoticed for long periods. When symptoms do occur, they might include:

• Persistent headaches
• Difficulty speaking or processing thoughts
• Muscle weakness
• Behavioral or personality changes
• Vision disturbances
• Seizures
• Hearing loss
• Confusion
• Memory issues

Treatment Options for Brain Tumors

Treatment strategies for brain cancer depend on several variables, including the tumor’s size, type, grade, and location. Doctors may recommend:

• Surgery
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy

Your medical team will help guide you based on your individual diagnosis. The prognosis—or outlook—depends on:

• Tumor type and growth rate
• Tumor location in the brain
• Presence of genetic mutations or abnormalities
• Whether the entire tumor can be removed
• The patient’s overall health

Types of Brain Tumors: Cancerous and Non-Cancerous

According to the National Cancer Institute, brain tumors can vary greatly in behavior. Some common non-cancerous (benign) types include:

• Chordomas: Slow-growing, often found near the spine’s base or where it meets the skull
• Craniopharyngiomas: Develop near the pituitary gland; rare and slow-growing
• Gangliocytomas: Form in the temporal lobe and affect the central nervous system
• Glomus jugulare: Rare and slow-growing
• Meningiomas: Typically grow on the brain’s outer protective layer (dura mater)
• Pineocytomas: Arise from the pineal gland near the brain’s center
• Pituitary adenomas: Located in the pituitary gland; generally slow-growing
• Schwannomas: Originate in Schwann cells, which insulate nerve fibers
• Acoustic neuromas (vestibular schwannomas): Impact on hearing and balance nerves

Common malignant (cancerous) brain tumors include:

• Gliomas: The most frequent and aggressive form of primary brain cancer
• Astrocytomas: Derived from star-shaped brain cells, with four growth grades
• Ependymomas: Graded based on aggressiveness
• Oligodendrogliomas: Can grow slowly (Grade 2) or aggressively (Grade 3)
• Medulloblastomas: Fast-growing and often found in children
• Glioblastomas: The most common and aggressive brain tumor in adults.

Understanding Burrell’s Glioblastoma Diagnosis

Diagnosing gliomas involves a multi-step approach that includes clinical assessment, imaging studies, histopathological examination, and molecular testing.

As patients are diagnosed, they’re observed for typical glioma symptoms. These may include: headaches, seizures, speech changes, or behavioral changes.

During the clinical assessment, the physician will take a detailed history, focusing on the onset and progression of symptoms. Since gliomas can present with non-specific symptoms that overlap with other neurological conditions, ruling out conditions like stroke, infections, or inflammatory disorders is essential during the initial clinical evaluation.

Patients then undergo a neurological exam that tests cranial nerve function, motor strength and coordination, sensory function, and cognitive abilities.

Next, patients undergo an MRI, which provides doctors with a visualization of the tumor.

“If you’re suspected of having a tumor on imaging and our neurosurgeons think that tumor can come out, they will take a piece of that tumor out first and confirm in the operating room and with our pathologists that, in fact, what they are looking at is a tumor,” Dr. Alexandra Miller, Director of the Neuro-Oncologist Division at NYU Langone Health, tells SurvivorNet. “And if it is, they resect it at that time. It’s not usually a two-step procedure.”

If surgery cannot be performed due to tumor location or patient-specific factors, a less invasive stereotactic biopsy can be obtained. Once the tissue sample is obtained, it’s examined under a microscope for molecular testing. At this stage, the tumor is given a grade, which determines how aggressive it is.

WATCH: Molecular testing for glioma patients

• Grade I-II gliomas – These are considered low-grade and tend to grow slowly. “The grade one is a very indolent, benign tumor that can be cured with surgery alone,” Dr. Henry Friedman, Deputy Director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, tells SurvivorNet.
• Grade III gliomas—These are considered high-grade and tend to grow more rapidly. They are typically classified as malignant and require more aggressive treatment, which can include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.
• Grade IV gliomas – These are the most aggressive gliomas, which are locally aggressive and require treatment intensification. Glioblastomas are the most common grade IV glioma, “which is by far the most well-known and feared tumor in the lay population and, quite frankly, the medical population,” Dr. Friedman explains.

How Are Gliomas Treated?

Burrell has already undergone surgery to remove her tumor, followed by chemotherapy and radiation, which helped extract the remaining bits of the cancer that surgery could not remove. Specific details of her ongoing treatment remain unclear at this time. However, the route she took early on is typical for glioblastoma treatment.

“The first step is always the neurosurgery. How much can you take out? Is it safe to do surgery? Do you have to rely on a biopsy? Can you even do a biopsy?” Dr. Friedman tells SurvivorNet.

The main treatment options are:

• Observation—Some benign, small, and asymptomatic gliomas or tumors located in inoperable locations can be recommended for observation.
• Surgery is often the first-line treatment for gliomas, with the goal of achieving maximal safe resection, where the largest amount of tumor is removed without causing significant neurologic deficits. For low-grade gliomas, surgery alone can sometimes be curative.

After surgery, pathologists examine the tumor tissue to understand its features and molecular makeup. This added step helps doctors outline an appropriate treatment.

“We go through a very elaborate process of diagnostics, which includes looking at it under the microscope through our pathology team,” Dr. Friedman explained to SurvivorNet.

WATCH: The Role of Surgery in Treating Gliomas

Radiation and chemotherapy are often needed after surgery because removing the tumor completely is usually not possible due to the tumor’s ability to spread into surrounding brain tissue.

Radiation therapy uses high–energy X–rays to target and kill tumor cells. It is often used after surgery to target residual tumor cells.
Chemotherapy – These medications kill or slow the growth of cancer cells. Chemotherapy can be used alongside radiation or following radiation and is often used in higher-grade tumors.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved some drug treatments, including temozolomide (Temodar), to help patients with this aggressive disease. Temozolomide is a chemotherapy drug patients can take after surgery and radiation therapy.

Targeted therapy and immunotherapy are newer treatments designed to target specific genetic mutations in the tumor or to stimulate the immune system to fight the cancer. Their role in the treatment of gliomas is continuing to evolve.

Other FDA-approved drugs for treating glioblastoma include lomustine (Gleostine), intravenous carmustine (Bicnu), carmustine wafer implants, and Avastin (bevacizumab).

Avastin is a targeted drug therapy that blocks glioblastoma cells from requesting new blood vessels that feed and allow the tumor to grow.

The FDA approved Vorasidenib, an IDH inhibitor. It works by blocking the mutated enzyme, slowing tumor growth, and extending the time before disease progression. IDH mutant gliomas tend to grow more slowly and have a better prognosis than IDH wild-type gliomas.

Dr. Alexandra Miller tells SurvivorNet that Vorasidenib is a “huge breakthrough for people with IDH mutant tumors.”

“What I tell my patients is that we have these effective treatments, but what they do is they delay the time to when this tumor comes back. Only in exceptional circumstances would we ever talk about getting rid of one of these cancers, a few,” Dr. Daniel Wahl, professor of radiation and oncology at the University of Michigan, tells SurvivorNet.

Burrell’s Cancer Journey

Burrell’s cancer journey began in 2022 when she was diagnosed with glioblastoma.

“Receiving my diagnosis, at the age of 35, when my son was one year old, was devastating,” Burrell previously told U.K.-based news outlet The Sun.

Burrell is among the team of experts that appeared on the popular television show that comes from auction houses. She appeared on the British version of the show, which tours throughout the U.K., valuing various treasures and trinkets. She has been a part of the show since 2018.

However, she says things changed seemingly in a flash after her diagnosis.

“Overnight, everything had changed. Suddenly, I’d gone from being a healthy person in the middle of my life with a new baby to having incurable cancer with maybe only a year or two left to live,” Burrell said.

After being diagnosed, Burrell said she immediately underwent surgery to remove the tumor. She also had chemotherapy and radiation. She said in a recent interview that since her diagnosis, she’s gone through the rigors of treatment.

“I’ve lost my hair, I’m no longer allowed to drive, and I’m no longer able to work,” she said.

“What followed was months of surgery and treatment to try and prolong my life, and … I continue to make the best of each day,” Burrell added, saying she’s “doing quite well.”

Since her diagnosis, Burrell has become a brain cancer advocate and is focusing on the positive.

Questions for Your Doctor

If you have been diagnosed with glioblastoma, here are some questions you may consider asking your doctor:

• What stage is my brain cancer?
• What are the treatment options for my brain cancer?
• Am I a good candidate for temozolomide?
• Am I a good candidate for Optune?
• What are the risks and benefits of the recommended treatment?
• What are the side effects of the recommended treatment?
• How long will it take to recover from treatment, and will I be able to return to work and normal activities?
• What’s the likelihood that insurance will cover the recommended treatment?

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

---