- Belgian boy cures brain cancer
- Treatment: everolimus clinical trial
- Lucas’ tumor vanishes completely
A 13-year-old Belgian boy has been cured of a fatal form of brain cancer, becoming the first in the world to do so.
Lucas Jemeljanova was six years old when he was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), an exceptionally rare and mercilessly aggressive brain tumour that claims the lives of 98% of its victims within five years.
In a clinical trial, he was randomly assigned to receive everolimus, a chemotherapy medication approved for the treatment of cancers of the kidney, pancreas, breast, and brain, but not previously effective against DIPG.
Lucas responded well to the treatment, and the tumour gradually disappeared.
After seven years, Lucas’ illness has completely vanished, and he has formally entered a five-year remission period.
According to his physician, Jacques Grill, Lucas “beat all odds,” and his case “provides real hope.”
His parents, Olesja and Cedric, took him to France to participate in the BIOMEDE trial, which investigated potential new treatments for DIPG.
Everolimus: A Breakthrough Cancer Treatment
Everolimus works by inhibiting mTOR, a protein that promotes the division, growth, and blood vessel formation of cancer cells.
This inhibits or slows the progression of the cancer by stopping cancer cell proliferation and reducing blood flow to the tumour cells.
The substance has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating various types of cancer.
Doctors were hesitant to stop Lucas’s treatment until a year and a half ago when it became clear he had already stopped taking the medications.
“I had no idea when or how to stop because there was no precedent in the world,” said Dr. Grill.
“I watched the tumour disappear entirely through a series of MRI scans,” explained his physician, Jacques Grill, who heads the brain tumour programme at the Gustave Roussy cancer centre in Paris, to AFP.
The reason for Lucas’s rapid recovery remains uncertain.
While seven other children in the trial were deemed “long responders” three years after their initial diagnosis because they had not relapsed. Lucas’s tumour was the only one to have completely vanished.
Dr. Grill speculated that the children’s differing responses to the drugs were likely due to “biological peculiarities” of their tumours.
“We believe the exceedingly rare mutation in Lucas’s tumour made its cells much more susceptible to the drug,” he explained.
DIPG affects about 300 children annually, as reported by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The median survival time after diagnosis is nine months.
DIPG is most commonly observed in children aged five to nine.
The origin of these tumours, located at the base of the brain and the top of the spine, remains unknown.
Significant physiological functions, such as respiration, hypotension, and blood pressure, are regulated by the pons. This is an area of the brain compressed by the tumour.
The tumour gradually impairs breathing, swallowing, vision, and balance.
Problems with eye movement, facial paralysis, difficulty walking, unusual limb movements, and balance issues are among the initial symptoms.
Lucas was diagnosed at the age of six, following a summertime illness.
He had difficulty urinating, was unable to walk straight, frequently fainted, and had nosebleeds.
Currently, scientists are trying to replicate the anomaly observed in Lucas’s cells.
It is theorised that Lucas had a specific variant of the disease.
Dr. Grill stated, “To medically replicate in other patients what happened naturally with him, we need to understand what and why.”
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In addition to analysing the genetic mutations in patients’ tumours, the researchers are creating tumour “organoids.” These are synthetic clusters of cells designed to mimic organs.
The team wants to mimic Lucas’s genetic alterations in organoids to determine if they can remove tumours.
“The next step is to find a drug that has the same effect on tumour cells as these cellular changes,” explained the researcher leading the lab work, Marie-Anne Debily.
However, the process will not be quick.
Dr. Grill said, “On average, it takes ten to fifteen years from the initial lead to the approval of a drug; it’s a long and protracted process.”
