New Delhi, July 22 (IANS) A 43-year-old UK man has been declared free from deadly glioblastoma — the most aggressive and common type of primary brain tumour — after taking the new immunotherapy drug.

Ben Trotman was 40 years old when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma.

He became the first patient in the world to participate in a groundbreaking trial of the immunotherapy drug — ipilimumab — at the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) in the UK.

Trotman received ipilimumab before the standard treatment when the immune system is at its strongest.

Following treatment, he underwent the current standard treatment of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.

More than two and a half years on from treatment, “Trotman is doing well with no active tumour present on scans,” the university said in a statement.

“It is very unusual to have a clear scan with glioblastoma, especially when he didn’t have the follow-up surgery that had been planned to remove all of the tumour that was initially visible on scans. We hope that the immunotherapy and follow-up treatment Ben has had will hold his tumour at bay, and it has so far, which we are delighted to see,” said Dr Paul Mulholland, consultant medical oncologist at UCLH, who led the trial.

“The crucial element of this trial is that patients will have their immune system boosted by the drug before they have any other treatment, when they are fit and well enough to tolerate the immunotherapy,” he added.

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer with a poor prognosis. Most patients survive just nine months after diagnosis.

“I was in a clinical trial of one, which is why we don’t know what the future holds. I am delighted that this new trial, with the same immunotherapy drug I received, is going ahead, and others will have the opportunity to take part. It will give people newly diagnosed with glioblastoma some hope,” said Trotman.

–IANS

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