What is glioblastoma? Richard Scolyer’s extraordinary final mission

Professor Richard Scolyer dedicated his final years to finding a cure for glioblastoma – the aggressive brain cancer that ultimately claimed his life.

Following his diagnosis in 2023, the trailblazing Australian researcher bypassed standard care to trial a world-first experimental immunotherapy, far outliving his initial prognosis.

Yet despite his breakthrough, glioblastoma remains one of the world’s most difficult cancers to treat. So what exactly is it?

What is glioblastoma?

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive form of brain cancer.

The disease is classified as a grade 4 tumour – the most severe category for brain cancers.

About 2000 Australians are diagnosed with brain cancer each year, and approximately 1000 to 1200 of these cases are glioblastoma.

Neurosurgeon Dr Stephen Lewis from Perth Neurosurgery explained that this tumour grows from astrocytes – cells that are supposed to protect and support the brain.

“Unlike many other cancers, glioblastoma tends to grow by sending microscopic tumour cells deep into the surrounding brain tissue. This makes it extremely difficult to remove completely,” he told nine.com.au.

Lewis said the disease can occur at any age but is most commonly diagnosed in people between 55 and 75 years of age.

Patients have an average life expectancy of 15 to 18 months.

“Only 25 per cent of patients survive beyond two years,” Professor Pieter Eichhorn from Curtin University medical school said.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms vary depending on where the tumour develops and which parts of the brain are affected.

Clinical academic medical oncologist and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Western Australia, Professor Anna Nowak, said early signs can resemble those of other serious medical emergencies.

“First symptoms can be similar to symptoms of a stroke,” she said.

Common warning signs include seizures, headaches, nausea and vomiting, speech difficulties, weakness on one side of the body, vision changes, confusion and personality changes.

Is there a cure?

Despite major advances in cancer treatment over recent decades, there is currently no cure for glioblastoma.

Treatment usually involves surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy delivered together for up to six weeks. Patients then typically continue with further chemotherapy, often in tablet form.

Doctors may also prescribe medications to help manage seizures and reduce brain swelling.

“Unfortunately, these treatments are the same ones that we have been using for the last 20 to 25 years,” Eichhorn said.

Glioblastoma almost always returns or continues to progress after treatment, at which point patients may be offered additional therapies or clinical trials if they are well enough.

Immunotherapy, the treatment approach Scolyer helped pioneer for melanoma and later trialled on himself, remains experimental for glioblastoma and is currently being investigated through clinical trials.

Why is glioblastoma so difficult to treat?

One of the greatest challenges is that surgeons cannot remove all the cancer without risking serious damage to the brain.

Nowak said the tumor is known to spread into surrounding brain tissue, making complete removal impossible.

“The brain is such a critical organ that surgeons can only remove the main bulk of the glioblastoma, and there is always cancer left behind because it tends to infiltrate into other important adjacent areas of the brain,” she said.

Unlike cancers in other parts of the body, doctors cannot remove a wide margin of healthy tissue surrounding the tumour, as doing so could permanently affect essential functions such as speech, movement, or cognition.

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“When glioblastoma spreads in the surrounding tissue, it’s like a spider web, with microscopic thread-like cancer cells spreading everywhere,” Eichhorn said.

Researchers have also struggled to identify an effective molecular target that can be blocked with drugs, as has been done for several other cancers.

The disease is also highly resistant to treatment, and even standard therapies may have limited success in some patients.

Why was Richard Scolyer’s case so pivotal?

Scolyer made headlines globally by skipping standard glioblastoma care to trial a novel treatment based on decades of melanoma research.

Working with his colleague Professor Georgina Long, he became the first brain cancer patient in the world to receive combination immunotherapy before surgery.

He later received a personalised anti-cancer vaccine designed to help his immune system identify and attack tumour cells.

For nearly a year and a half, his routine scans showed no evidence of tumour recurrence.

But the cancer returned in early 2025, prompting Scolyer to undergo additional brain surgery after doctors found a larger, rapidly progressing tumour.

“The prognosis is poor,” he acknowledged at the time.

While his battle did not deliver a cure, researchers believe the scientific knowledge gained from his case will pave the way for future efforts to fight the disease.