Finding Purpose Amid Health Challenges
- “Antiques Roadshow” star Theo Burrell, 37, has become a notable advocate for brain tumor research since she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2022. She says her diagnosis has since caused her to lose her driver’s license.
- Ongoing efforts to discover treatment advancements for glioblastoma are showing signs of hope. Early results in a phase 1 clinical trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine found three patients who saw major reductions in their GBM brain tumors, and one of them saw her tumor experience “near-complete tumor regression” after receiving a form of CAR T-cell therapy.
- CAR T-cell therapy works by re-engineering a patient’s immune cells into more efficient cancer fighters.
- Burrell was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma brain tumor in 2022. She underwent surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy for treatment thus far. This kind of brain tumor “grows and spreads very quickly,” according to the National Cancer Institute. The average survival rate is 15 months with treatment and less than six if left untreated.
- Symptoms often associated with glioblastoma may include seizures, headaches, changes in speech, and difficulty balancing.
Ironically, Burrell’s ongoing advocacy for brain tumor research coincides with her reliance on public transportation, thanks mainly to her diagnosis, which prohibited her ability to drive.
Read MoreView this post on Instagram
Burrell’s friends helped draw attention to the ad campaign running on the local buses. The moment comes days after Burrell got to share her brain cancer journey in front of numerous dignitaries supporting brain tumor research.
Glioblastoma (GBM) “grows and spreads very quickly,” according to the National Cancer Institute. The average survival rate is 15 months with treatment and less than six if left untreated. However, early results in an ongoing clinical trial offer a glimmer of hope for patients living with GBM.
Early results in a phase 1 clinical trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine found three patients who saw significant reductions in their brain tumors, and one of them saw her tumor experience “near-complete tumor regression.”
Researchers have made such progress using CAR T-cell Therapy, a cancer treatment that re-engineers the immune system to target cancer. More specifically, researchers used a CAR T-cell therapy variant called CAR-TEAM. It’s designed to be “directly injected into the patient’s brain” by targeting a protein often found in glioblastomas called EGFR.
Although the clinical trial phase for this treatment is far from complete, it presents an opportunity for further exploration of treating glioblastoma.
The results of the clinical trial showed significant tumor regression among patients.
“These results are exciting, but they are also just the beginning—they tell us that we are on the right track in pursuing a therapy that can potentially change the outlook for this intractable disease. We haven’t cured patients yet, but that is our audacious goal,” Dr. Marcela Maus, director of the Cellular Immunotherapy Program at the Mass General Cancer Center, said.
As the clinical trial continues, the team of researchers hopes to find ways to prolong the CAR-TEAM cell treatment’s effectiveness, as two of the three patients experienced a relapse after some time.
Ongoing Efforts to Improve Glioblastoma Treatment
Neuro-oncologist at Duke University Medical Center, Dr. Henry Friedman, has been researching glioblastoma, the most aggressive primary brain tumor, for years. He says he wants to offset the notion your time is limited just because you’re faced with a glioblastoma diagnosis.
He and his colleagues at Duke have been researching a new therapy that combines a modified poliovirus and immunotherapy. The modified poliovirus is used to treat glioblastoma brain tumors. Immunotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses the body’s immune system to combat cancer cells from within.
WATCH: Hope for Glioblastoma Research
Dr. Friedman shared the therapy works by injecting the modified poliovirus directly into the tumor through a catheter. It lyses the tumor. Tumor lysis occurs when cancer cells fall apart and flood the bloodstream faster than the body can rid itself of them due to cancer treatment such as chemotherapy.
“[The process] causes the tumor cells to basically break up,” Dr. Friedman explained.
Although research paused due to resource allocation, Dr. Friedman says a new trial will differ from how his team treated glioblastoma tumors.
“Now we’re injecting poliovirus into the wall of the crater of the tumor because that’s where most tumor cells reside. We’re also injecting it into the lymph nodes on the same side the tumor is located in the body,” Dr. Friedman explained of the modified approach.
“With repetitive dosing of poliovirus immunotherapy, hopefully, we can boost the 5-year survival rate beyond 20 percent,” Dr. Friedman said.
Most of all, he hopes the ongoing research at Duke Cancer Institute offers patients more hope.
“So many people are never offered any hope when it comes to glioblastoma, and they’re told nothing can be done…nothing will be easy, but that [defeatist mentality] is garbage,” Dr. Friedman said.
Dr. Friedman said checkpoint inhibitors are not very effective in treating glioblastoma. Checkpoint inhibitors are a class of immunotherapy drugs specifically targeting proteins found on immune or cancer cells to prevent their binding.
Burrell’s Brain Cancer Journey
Burrell revealed that she was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2022.
Glioblastoma is considered a central nervous system (CNS) tumor. Burrell’s tumor is considered grade 4, which means her brain tumor “grows and spreads very quickly,” according to the National Cancer Institute.
View this post on Instagram
According to the National Cancer Institute, the average survival rate is 15 months with treatment and less than six if left untreated. While there is a five-year survival rate of approximately 6%, those individuals will never be cancer-free and must continue receiving radiation and chemotherapy for the rest of their lives.
Glioblastomas are so challenging to treat and manage because their cells are heterogeneous, meaning that each one must be individually targeted to slow tumor growth. Surgery also cannot remove all of the cancer because of the way the tumor burrows into the brain. This means the tumor starts to grow again immediately after surgery.
“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 appear on the popular television show that comes from auction houses. The show has been around since 1979 and has had various iterations over the years. She appears 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.
View this post on Instagram
“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 90% of the tumor. She also underwent six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation. She said in a recent interview 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.”
She recently gave supportive fans an update on her prognosis, which is filled with positivity.
“Good news! Another stable scan is under my belt. Long term, my GBM is still bad news; it will get me, but today we can celebrate another few months of life,” Burrell wrote in an Instagram post.
She added, “Never take the good things in your life for granted. Ever.”
Burrell says she finished treatment in the Spring of 2023 and has had “stable scans” ever since.
“I still suffer regular headaches and lots of fatigue, and I have learned that pacing myself, in all ways, is key to feeling good. I got to bed early, exercised where I could, listened to lots of music, which made me feel good, and lived day to day as much as I could,” Burrell said in an Instagram post.
Better Understanding Glioblastoma Tumors
Glioblastoma is considered a central nervous system (CNS) tumor. Burrell’s tumor is considered grade 4, which means her brain tumor “grows and spreads very quickly,” according to the National Cancer Institute.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the average survival rate is 15 months with treatment and less than six if left untreated. While there is a five-year survival rate of averaging 6 percent, those individuals will never be cancer-free. They must continue receiving radiation and chemotherapy for the rest of their lives. Again, Dr. Friedman aims to boost the survival rate beyond 20% with his poliovirus and immunotherapy still undergoing research.
Glioblastomas are tricky to treat and manage because their cells are heterogeneous, meaning each must be individually targeted to slow tumor growth. Surgery cannot remove all the cancer because the tumor burrows into the brain, so the tumor starts to grow again immediately after surgery.
Glioblastoma risk factors can include:
- Prior radiation exposure
- Gender: men are more likely to get glioblastoma than women
- Age: people 50 years or older
- Certain genetic syndromes, including neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, von Hippel-Lindau disease
Symptoms for glioblastoma can vary depending on the area of the brain where the tumor begins and spreads and its growth rate, according to MD Anderson Cancer Center. But common symptoms of glioblastoma can include:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Changes in mental function, mood, or personality
- Changes in speech
- Sensory changes in hearing, smell, and sight
- Loss of balance
- Changes in your pulse and breathing rate
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?
- 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?
- Am I a good candidate for temozolomide, Optune, or clinical trials?
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
