Reviewed by E B Heath
Dr. Richard Scolyer is a world-renowned melanoma pathologist and one of the world’s top melanoma researchers. He is co-director with Georgina Long at the Melanoma Institute Australia. In 2021 he was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia for his outstanding service to medicine in the field of melanoma and skin cancer. Then in 2023 Richard was diagnosed with an incurable brain cancer. Brainstorm details what happen next.
With the help of professional writer and journalist, Garry Maddox, Richard Scolyer has given a report of his life before and after his diagnosis. Scolyer gives an open and honest account of every aspect of his life. It is always interesting to delve into the past of high achievers, fathoming what features most, nurture or nature; readers might get the impression that Scolyer is also trying to figure this out.
Scolyer had been blessed with advantages in both nurture and nature. Being raised in a family with loving active parents and a caring older brother. And then there is the context of Tasmania. Being raised in such an environment it is easy to have a healthy active lifestyle, something that Scolyer has continued into adulthood, training and competing in triathlons. As for nature he was bestowed with an agile retentive mind, his extended family is peppered with doctors and engineers. But also, on this side of the ledger, Scolyer is self-driven to do the best he can in everything he does. He is a very competitive man. Competitive with himself. And yet watching his television interviews it is clear there is nothing of that egotistical competitive bravado that is so common among the ‘driven’. Humble Scolyer is at pains to emphasise two other factors that heavily contributed to his success. In his professional life he was mentored by some extraordinary men, he names them all in this memoir and the role they played in forwarding his career. Above all, he is grateful for his family, singing the praises of his wife Katie, also a pathologist, and three lovely children. So, what could possibly go wrong?
Enter stage right the fickle finger of fate! Fifty-six-year-old Scolyer collapsed while on a work/holiday trip to Poland and was subsequently diagnosed with a brain tumour. Getting back to Australia was imperative, at which point it was confirmed that he had an incurable, aggressive grade 4 IDH-wildtype glioblastoma.
The team at the Melanoma Institute headed by Georgina Long swung into action immediately. Long and team wondered if the success of a new class of immunotherapy drugs that stimulated the body’s immune system to kill melanoma cells could be effectively applied to brain tumours. It was found that immunotherapy drugs were more effective if administered before surgery; the five-year survival rate for advanced melanoma had jumped from 5% to 55%. Despite the success rate with melanoma the plan was a radical choice for a brain tumour. The risk was estimated to be a 5% chance of success, with a 60% danger of side effects killing Scolyer, perhaps within days if the drugs caused major swelling in the brain. The other risk was that in delaying surgery the tumour might advance further into the brain. Nevertheless, Scolyer was keen to be the first to trial this approach.
He began the first four-hour infusion, the second dose was delayed because of side-effects – high temperatures, skin rashes and problems with high enzymes in his liver. After more transfusions, some weeks later pieces of the tumour were removed by neurosurgeon Brindha Shivalingam.
Thankfully, the pathology results showed immune cells were activating and killing the tumour cells. Whereas it is early days this result indicates that it is a therapy deserving further study. And best of all Scolyer lives on.
Brainstorm is a most interesting memoir on so many levels. It details a very personal experience on receiving a devasting diagnosis. Followed by a professional decision to forge a pathway for new therapies, knowing, despite the risks involved, possible success could help many other people in the same situation. What an example for young readers. As Scolyer tells his story he is illustrating what it takes to be a success, namely the determination to achieve the very best result possible. In short – hard work. And, the importance of physical exercise. Something he did not neglect throughout his treatment. I couldn’t help wondering what part his long distance running and cycling played in the, so far, successful outcome of this new therapy.
The above is but a small sample from a most interesting memoir.
by Richard Scolyer with Garry Maddox
(2024)
Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 978 176147 149 0
Paperback
$34.99; 304pp