Watch: RPA cancer expert finds himself a patient at his own workplace after discovery of incurable brain tumour

EXCLUSIVE: Neurosurgeon Dr Brindha Shivalingam spends a lot of her time looking at brain scans – but when one in particular came across her desk 18 months ago, there was a lot of added emotion.

It was the scan of her colleague at Royal Prince Alfred hospital, Professor Richard Scolyer, and it showed a fast growing grade 4 tumour.

"To know the person, someone you closely work with, a friend, and to look at this scan that clearly showed this aggressive, incurable brain cancer – it was quite distressing," Dr Shivalingam recalled in an interview with 9Entertainment.

Stream the last episodes of RPA on 9Now.

Scolyer is a world-leading pathologist and co-medical director at the Melanoma Institute Australia. He is also joint Australian of the Year 2024 along with his colleague, Professor Georgina Long.

Eighteen months ago, the cancer expert was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a rare, incurable brain cancer with an average survival time of 12-18 months.

However, Scolyer is not only still alive, but currently cancer-free after becoming a 'human guinea pig' with a world-first treatment plan.

Watch Professor Long explain the radical treatment in the video above.

Scolyer became the first glioblastoma patient to be treated with immunotherapy before the surgery to remove the bulk of his tumour, and early results were very promising.

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Dr Shivalingam said that she was really blown away by comparing data from two different surgeries – first, a biopsy to remove about 15 per cent of the tumour, followed by the removal of the rest weeks later with immunotherapy in-between.

"The number of immune cells and the types of immune cells were quite markedly different, and we put that down to the immunotherapy," she explained.

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"That was really exciting. He only had one dose of immunotherapy, and even with that one dose, his immune system had been activated and immune cells were inside his tumor, hopefully doing what they're supposed to do, which is to get rid of it."

Taking part in such a new treatment plan was a big risk for Scoyler. Thankfully, it has paid off so far as his latest MRI scan showed no sign of recurrence.

"We were all very fearful for Richard starting out, because we knew that there were some significant side effects that these drugs could produce and if he had had those bad side effects, it actually would have shortened his life," Dr Shivalingam explained.

"Richard being a pathologist and understanding this particular cancer, he knew that there was no hope of cure or long term life with the standard treatment.

"I guess in his mind, it was just like, 'Well, I'm gonna die anyway. I may as well try something else.'"

Watch Richard explain his decision to become a 'human guinea pig' in the video above.

His decision was just one tiny step towards advancement in glioblastoma treatment, with wide-spread clinical trials and further research needed before immunotherapy can be proven as a treatment option.

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But Dr Shivalingam felt very confident that major progress for brain cancer was on the horizon.

"I would say definitely in the next five years... In general, all the cancer research has got to a point where it's all going to get better from here," she said.

You can catch Dr Richard's whole story by watching Episode 8 Joseline's New Liver of RPA on 9Now.

Stream the last episodes of RPA on 9Now.

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