Hunter Biden Credits Late Brother Beau who Died from Brain Cancer with Helping Him Finally Overcome Addiction: ‘I Know You Were With Me Through it All,’ He Writes in New Memoir

Hunter named the book Beautiful Things in honor of Beau. It was his “mantra” to his brother while he was sick. He wanted them to “dedicate our lives to appreciating and cultivating the world’s boundless beauty,” speaking of relationships, places and moments. “It was our code for a renewed outlook on life.”

Hunter promised his brother that he would stay sober after he died. Beau took Hunter to his first AA meetings, found him his first sponsor and had taken him to rehab more than once.

Related: John McCain & Joe Biden's Son, Beau, Both Died From Glioblastoma; Progress in Treating the Disease Is Slow, but Now There's a Glimmer of Hope

Unfortunately, Hunter broke his promise. The next four years after Beau’s death resulted in him “stumbling, then sliding, then racing downhill.” His marriage to ex-wife Kathleen fell apart, and he went back into rehab. “I was drowning myself in alcohol,” Biden says. His father stepped in to try to help. “Left on my own, I’m certain I would not have survived,” the father of five writes.

After hitting rock bottom with frequent use of hard drugs, he got sober.

“I had no idea then how many dead-end detours I’d take before I could finally keep those promises,” he writes to Beau in the book. “I’ve survived, buddy, I know you were with me through it all.”

A Tragic Family History

The boys grew up close, almost exactly one year apart, as their birthdays fall on February 3 and 4. Their mother Neilia tragically died in a tragic car accident with their 1-year-old sister Naomi in 1972. Hunter, 2 at the time, and Beau, 3, survived. They were eventually blessed with a new sister, Ashley, now 39, when Joe remarried First Lady Jill Biden, who raised the boys like they were her own.

 

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Beau’s Cancer Battle

Beau Biden was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2013, and underwent surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation for the disease. He was then able to go back to work as Delaware's Attorney General. Sadly, the father of two suffered a recurrence the following spring, and his health turned quickly. Prior to his diagnosis, in 2010, the Iraq War Veteran suffered from a stroke, which luckily had been mild. There is no evidence whether this was a symptom of his brain cancer or unrelated.

Glioblastomas are malignant tumors that come from astrocytesthe star-shaped cells that make up the supportive tissue of the brain. The cells of these tumors usually reproduce very quickly. Brain and central nervous system tumors kill about 15,000 people in the United States each year, according to Advanced Neurosurgery Associates. While we have seen some promise with other cancers due to earlier screenings and new treatments, death rates from glioblastoma have overall stayed the same.

Hope for Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma, also called GBM, is the most aggressive brain tumor in adults. Patients with GBM often have symptoms such as headaches, nausea, vomiting and sensory changes such as issues with balance or walking. Sometimes GBM can also cause seizures and other neurological defects. Many of the symptoms a GBM may cause often improve following treatment.

Despite the aggressive nature of GBM, the top brain researcher in the U.S. and neuro-oncologist at Duke University Medical Center, Dr. Henry Friedman tells SurvivorNet that there is still hope. "You are not dead just because you're diagnosed with a glioblastoma. So many people are told by their doctors or their institutions that they're at, 'I'm sorry, put your affairs in order and just move on.'"

Related: Can Cell Phones & 5G Cause Cancer? A Leading Brain Cancer Doctor Says "No"

This message of hope comes from the research Dr. Friedman and his colleagues at Duke University are doing on a new therapy that combines the modified poliovirus and immunotherapy.

"The modified poliovirus is used to treat this tumor, by injecting it directly into the tumor, through a catheter. It is designed to lyse the tumor and cause the tumor cells to basically break up," he tells SurvivorNet. The goal is that the modified poliovirus will then trigger the body's own immune system to attack and fight the cancer cells. Because the poliovirus is injected only into the tumor, the researchers hope the body's natural immune cells will only attack and kill the cancer cells and not affect the normal, healthy brain tissue.

When discussing the success of the poliovirus study, Dr. Friedman tells SurvivorNet that it has helped a large number of patients, but not enough. “We have a prolonged survival curve of about 18% going out many, many years in our initial trial,” he says. “We don't want to have 18%, 15%, 20% of people who are long-term survivors. We want them to be at a much higher number."

There is New Hope for Those Fighting Glioblastoma

A Patient with Inoperable Brain Tumor Will Do Whatever it Takes to Fight

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