Engineer's brain tumour shrinks by half after new radioactive therapy

Paul Read's scar from his brain tumour surgery. Credit: PA
Paul Read's scar from his brain tumour surgery. Credit: PA

A man has seen his deadly brain tumour shrink by half thanks to a new radioactive therapy, which experts hope will eradicate the disease.

Paul Read, 62, is the first patient to take part in a trial to treat glioblastoma which is being run by doctors at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Their aim is to cure the disease through injecting low levels of radioactivity directly into the tumour to kill off cancer cells.

For the procedure, surgeons removed as much tumour as possible before implanting a small medical device called an Ommaya reservoir under the scalp, which connects to the tumour via a small tube.

Paul Read and his wife, Pauline. Credit: PA

Mr Read, from Luton, who has recurrent glioblastoma, first noticed a very severe headache in December.

A scan at the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital revealed a large mass on his brain which was removed but began growing again in July.

Mr Read was then offered a place on the new CITADEL-123 trial at UCLH, having previously agreed to take part in clinical research.

Mr Read said the trial offered him a "lifeline".

"I am delighted to be given the opportunity to be part of this trial and I have not experienced any side-effects from the injections.

“Possibly a little more tired, but overall, I am feeling very good.

“I’m not frightened by any of this. We are all dealt a hand of cards and you don’t know which ones you are going to get."

Dr Paul Mulholland, who designed the trial, said the treatment had been straightforward.

"The radioactivity in the drug targets the tumour cells specifically – it’s a tiny amount of radioactivity,” he said.

“Because it’s targeted directly to the tumour cells, it’s very powerful at killing them."

Medics are treating one patient a month in the first phase of the trial but will expand it to include more patients.

Dr Mulholland said the dose of radiation would be increased throughout the trial and the plan was then to combine the drug with an immunotherapy – which trains the body’s own immune system to kill cancer – with up to 40 patients treated.

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