Woman given months to live beats brain cancer with new cell treatment

A New Jersey woman had a second chance in life, thanks to a new therapy against cancer.

Pamela Goldberger, 65, discovered in 2023 that she had a glioblastoma – a devastating diagnosis with an average survival of only 14 to 16 months, even with surgery.

In an interview with the camera with Fox News Digital, Goldberger shared that his first symptoms were subtle, apart from a serious shoulder of nausea – up to a dinner night, she used her fork like her knife and her knife as a fork. (See the video at the top of the article.)

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Goldberger went to the emergency room for neurological tests, including MRI and a cat scan, which revealed a brain tumor.

“This is a news rather devastating to hear,” she said. “I don’t know what I was thinking about, but that wasn’t all … Our world has just stopped.”

Pam Goldberger is represented with her husband Bruce Goldberger (on the far right) and their two grandchildren. The survivor said that her husband was her “biggest cheerleader” throughout her cancer career. (Goldberger family)

“We have two grandchildren, and (I thought) that I was never going to have the opportunity to see them grow. I think it’s as devastating as possible.”

Goldberger was admitted to the hospital and planned for brain surgery a few days later.

Patients with brain cancer who received this pain medication lived longer, shows the study

Surgery is a standard treatment for this very invasive brain cancer, but the chief of neurosurgery at Cooper university hospital in Camden, New Jersey, offered Goldberger a different option.

He invited Goldberger to consider joining a clinical trial for individualized dendritic cell therapy which could help treat the glioblastoma, and she agreed to participate.

Although the healing process was “very progressive”, Goldberger said that she had started to feel again once the oral chemotherapy is over. (Goldberger family)

After surgery, Goldberger began six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation, then started six weeks of cell therapy sought a few weeks later. This process was followed by another year of chimio maintenance.

Although the healing process was “very progressive”, Goldberger said that she had started to feel again once the oral chemotherapy is over.

Now, 2 and a half years after her diagnosis, she is alive, healthy and able to play tennis several times a week.

Clinical trial details

Survival rates and treatments for glioblastoma have not changed for 20 years, according to Dr. Joseph Georges, a neurosurgeon at the Banner University Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, who led the clinical trial.

“It is a highly mutated tumor and there are different cell populations for each patient,” he told Fox News Digital. “And the tumor is also very good at silence the body’s immune system to attack it.”

“This is a news rather devastating to hear … Our world has just stopped.”

The new treatment begins the immune system to detect and kill the tumor cell by creating a vaccine directly from the patient’s tumor, which is collected during surgery.

“We collect all these different types of tumor cells, then we teach the immune system how to attack the tumor – even small cells that escape surgical resection,” said Georges.

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The treatment, which uses dendritic cells taken from patients, was administered to 16 people between 47 and 73 years old who were newly diagnosed with glioblastoma, including Goldberger.

After having undergone chemo and radiation, patients received three injection lessons every two weeks, as well as weekly injections from an interferon Pégylé drug (a type of protein that helps regulate the immune system).

While Goldberger always has regular checks with her doctors, she reported that she felt “good” and liked spending time with her grandchildren, playing tennis, lunch with friends, reading, shopping and traveling. (Goldberger family)

The phase 1 clinical trial has shown global positive results, according to a press release from Diakonos Oncology, the group that developed the treatment, called DOC1021 (DUBONSEL).

Researchers noted positive immune responses and improved survival after treatment. He also proved to be sure with a minimum of side effects, even in high doses.

Rare tumor against cancer of the spine withdrawn into the patient’s eye to the university hospital

“At best, we hope to keep it stable and hope that we do not see it growing up, but we actually see tumors disappear for some of these people on their MRI,” Georges told Fox News Digital, who is “something that you do not see in glioblastoma”.

“It’s really incredible.”

“Living my best life”

While Goldberger always has regular checks with her doctors, she reported that she felt “good” and liked spending time with her grandchildren, playing tennis, lunch with friends, reading, shopping and traveling.

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“I live my best life right now, and I’m not limited by doing nothing that I would like to do,” she told Fox News Digital.

For other patients with glioblastoma, Goldberger recommends looking for opportunities for clinical trials if available and appropriate, and also exhorts them to heal seriously.

After undergoing chemo and radiation, patients received three injection lessons every two weeks. (istock)

“I was a very good patient. I did everything that my doctors told me to do,” said Goldberger, noting that she was walking every day, eaten well and slept a lot.

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“I surrounded myself with things that made me happy,” she continued. “I spent a lot of time with my grandchildren and my family … and have only done things that made me happy.”

“I think that all these things, gathered with excellent medical care and this trial, is the reason (I’m alive). And a lot of luck.”

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Georges agreed that patients with recurrent glioblastoma should look for clinical trials that could help.

Diakonos Oncology announced on July 22 that the first patient had been dosed in the Phase 2 DOC1021 clinical trial. Georges shared that the trial will be available on 20 sites across the country.