Cancer-stricken man, 41, given nine months to live, surprises doctors as world-first treatment frees him from brain tumor
A cancer-stricken man with months to live has stunned doctors after his fatal brain tumor effectively disappeared.
Ben Trotman, 41, from West Sussex, signed up for a world-first treatment trial after his shock glioblastoma diagnosis in October 2022.
He and his fiancée Emily said he probably only had nine months left and moved their wedding forward to last January.
But Mr Trotman, an investment banker at JP Morgan, now leads a normal life, all thanks to the ‘lucky break’ therapy he received. Doctors claimed his remarkable recovery was ‘previously unheard of’.
Typical treatment plans for glioblastoma have patients undergo surgery before chemo- and radiotherapy. This is still the same way it was treated in the early 2000s.
Ben Trotman (pictured), 41, from West Sussex, signed up for a world-first treatment trial after his shock glioblastoma diagnosis in October 2022. When told he likely had just nine months left, he and his fiancée suggested Emily brings their marriage forward. January
The Wanted singer Tom Parker (pictured with his wife Kelsey Parker in October 2021) died in March 2022 after an 18-month battle with stage four glioblastoma. He said after his diagnosis that he was ‘shocked’ by the limited treatment options for GBM and that ‘massive improvements’ were needed
Dr. Paul Mulholland, a brain cancer specialist based at University College Hospital in London and head of the new trial, said The timesthat the end result is ‘the same story every time’.
The disease – which affects around 3,000 Britons and 12,000 Americans each year – usually returns before patients ultimately die, Dr Mulholland said.
His lawsuit required patients to receive a course of immunotherapy before undergoing the usual course of treatment.
Immunotherapy stimulates the body’s internal weapons to detect and destroy cancer cells.
The Times reported that the trial had to conclude with Mr Trotman as the only patient.
Still, Dr. Mulholland said the results were so promising that a cure could finally be in sight.
He said, “I believe we have the tools to cure it.
‘We must intervene early to give patients the best chance of long-term survival.
‘It is important not only for brain cancer patients, but also for all other residual cancers with poor survival, such as pancreatic cancer.’
According to the Brain Tumor Charity, the average survival time for glioblastoma is between 12 and 18 months. Only 5 percent of patients survive five years, the report says.
The disease killed Labor politician Dame Tessa Jowell in 2018.
Last March, The Wanted singer Tom Parker also died after an 18-month battle with stage four glioblastoma.
He said after his diagnosis that he was “shocked” by the limited treatment options for GBM and that “massive improvements” were needed.
Diagnosed patients usually undergo surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible.
This is followed by daily radiation and chemo drugs for about six weeks, after which the drugs are tapered.
Radiation can then be used to destroy additional tumor cells and treat those that are not well enough for surgery.
But the cancer can double in size in just seven weeks.
By comparison, the fastest growing lung cancers take fourteen weeks to double.
The trial, funded by The Jon Moulton Charity Trust, saw Mr Trotman undergo one course of immunotherapy before receiving standard treatments.
The cancer, which is diagnosed in around 3,000 Britons and 12,000 Americans each year, is still treated in the same way as it was in the early 2000s. The average survival time is around 15 months, with less than 10 percent of patients surviving five years after diagnosis remains alive after standard treatment. It killed Labor politician Dame Tessa Jowell in 2018
The unnamed drug used, which is not yet widely available, caused him to develop severe headaches.
Doctors said this was a good sign because it showed his immune system had ‘woken up’ and was attacking the tumor.
Dr. Mulholland has now urged the same approach in future investigations.
It comes as Labor MP Dame Siobhan McDonagh introduced a bill to Parliament last month calling for an increase in clinical trials into brain tumors.
The MP for Mitcham and Morden lost her sister, Baroness Margaret McDonagh, a Labor peer, to glioblastoma in June last year.
The recommendations in the bill include mandatory training for NHS cancer doctors in brain tumors and at least 200 patients a year to participate in clinical trials.