Prayers For NBA Star Jason Collins, 47, Battling Brain Cancer, His ‘Tumors Have Shrunk’ After Undergoing Chemo and Radiation, But Treatment Journey Is Far From Over
Prayers For NBA Star Jason Collins, 47, Battling Brain Cancer, His ‘Tumors Have Shrunk’ After Undergoing Chemo and Radiation, But Treatment Journey Is Far From Over
Former NBA star Jason Collins, 47, says he’s “happy” and encouraged after targeted chemotherapy shrank his glioblastoma tumor, sharing in a video update that “everything is going well.”
After initial treatment at UCLA—including Avastin (a monoclonal antibody that helps prevent the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to malignant cells), chemotherapy, and radiation—an MRI showed tumor shrinkage, and Collins later traveled to Singapore for a targeted therapy using doxorubicin (chemotherapy) delivered directly to the tumor site.
Collins’ latest scans show tumor necrosis and low blood flow; doctors note radiation necrosis can cause swelling and symptoms, typically managed with high-dose steroids.
“The first step is always the neurosurgery,” Dr. Henry Friedman, Deputy Director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center, explains when treating a glioma (brain tumor). “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?” he adds.
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. This appears to be an approach Collins is taking, and our experts say targeted therapy and immunotherapy’s role in the treatment of gliomas is continuing to evolve.
Former NBA star Jason Collins, 47, says he’s feeling “happy” and encouraged after a targeted chemotherapy treatment successfully shrank his brain tumor—a hard-won victory as he confronts glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer.
In a video update to Gaye Magazine, Collins shared that “everything is going well,” showing the same resolve off the court that once defined his career on it.
Collins, the first active, openly gay player in NBA history, according to ESPN. He announced that he was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor revealed to be glioblastoma on September 11, 2025. He had a baseball-sized mass in his skull when he was diagnosed.
Glioblastoma (GBM) is notorious for its rapid growth and spread. With treatment, patients face an average survival of about 15 months; without it, life expectancy often drops to less than six months.
“Since the end of September, when I was basically a vegetable, I took a shot of Avastin and was able to start chemotherapy and also radiation at UCLA,” Collins said.
Avastin , which is also known as Bevacizumab, is a type of monoclonal antibody that helps prevent the growth of cancer by stopping blood flow to malignant cells. It works by blocking vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a protein that creates tumor-feeding blood vessels. This cuts off the tumor’s blood flow and oxygen supply, stops the tumor from growing, and ultimately kills it. Rather than killing cancer cells themselves, as chemotherapy does, bevacizumab chokes the cells at their roots.
Collins says once that treatment ended, an MRI revealed his tumor had shrunk. He then traveled to Singapore to continue treatment, where he received a form of targeted therapy.
“It uses a much stronger chemotherapy drug called doxorubicin, which delivers it directly to the site of my tumor. Recently, we had a brain scan, which shows necrosis (tissue death in the brain) in my brain tumor, and the blood flow is very low,” Collins explained.
WATCH: Glioma Radiation Side Effects
“There’s something called radiation necrosis. It’s where, after a certain period of time, after radiation, some of the brain cells and the cancer cells die in the brain, and they can cause an inflammatory reaction where there are more inflammatory cells coming in,” Dr. Prashant Vempati, a radiation oncologist at UH Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland, Ohio, explains.
“So, there’s lots of swelling, there’s a lot of dead tissue that can cause a lot of symptoms, and that’s one of the long-term side effects of radiation that could happen.”
Jason Collins pictured playing basketball on February 27, 2014, in Denver, Colorado (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
The current management involves high-dose corticosteroids that can reduce inflammation and swelling.
Collins has received chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy so far, according to a statement he shared with ESPN.
He’s hoping to resume treatment in the U.S. to attend a cancer conference in New York soon.
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
Cognitive or Behavioral Changes
Visual or Speech Changes and Impairments
Loss of Body Weight and Deconditioning
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
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?
“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.
Better Understanding the Types of 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
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?
