Australian scientist Dr. Richard Scolyer was in Krakow, Poland for a conference last year when he fell ill after a walk and was diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Dr. Scolyer began treatment under the supervision of specialists, with his longtime colleague Professor Georgina Long.
AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR
The two scientists were awarded a research fellowship in 2009 and have since been conducting the first human trials of immunotherapy drugs designed to 'stimulate the body's own immune system to fight melanoma, a form of cancer' at the University of Sydney.
In their experimental study, they were initiating treatment with immunotherapy drugs before surgical removal of the cancer-causing tumor. Thus, the body's immunity started to fight the cancer before surgery.The two scientists, who increased life expectancy from 10 percent to 50 percent with this work, also received the Australian of the Year 2024 Award.
"Melanoma treatment pioneers Professor Georgina Long and Professor Richard Scolyer have been named Australians of the Year 2024 for their revolutionary approach to treating melanoma using immunotherapy, the University of Sydney announced yesterday. Their enduring professional partnership has saved thousands of lives and continues to break new ground, including in the treatment of Richard's own disease."
ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY THAT CANCER HAS NOT RECURRED
With a team of experts, Dr. Richard Scolyer began treatment based on methods that had worked for melanoma but had never been tested for brain cancer.
Scolyer, who had the tumor surgically removed, then checked at various times with MRI scans that the cancer had not recurred, and yesterday announced that the cancer had not recurred on the latest scan.Dr. Scolyer announced the news with the message "Last Thursday I had a brain MRI scan for glioblastoma recurrence. Yesterday I found out that there is still no sign of recurrence. I couldn't be happier !!!!!".
