A Fight Against Brain Cancer from All Sides

Karl Schmidt was on summer vacation in 2023, visiting his family in Oregon to celebrate their yearly family getaway vacation to the mountains. The family was staying in a mountain cabin in the town of Bend and planned on hiking and biking outdoors. One night, while Schmidt, who was 28 years old at the time, was in bed inside a sleeping bag next to his little sister Katy, also in a sleeping bag, he suffered a seizure. He woke up seizing in his sleeping bag next to his sister Katy. Katy reacted and called her parents right away when Karl was having a seizure inside his sleeping bag; immediately, the parents called the paramedics to take Karl to the hospital.

At the intensive care unit, doctors placed Schmidt in a medically induced coma that he would stay in for 48 hours. During that time, they determined that there was a fist-sized tumor in his brain. Karl required immediate surgery to remove the tumor so doctors could test it for possible cancer. The surgery was about eight hours; Katy and her parents were really anxious to know the conclusion of the surgery. Finally, they took most of the tumor out and required further treatment.

“I had no memory between when I went to bed Saturday night and when they woke me up after the medically induced coma on Monday night," says Schmidt. He was hospitalized for 10 days before receiving results saying the tumor was cancerous and needed to undergo chemotherapy. “I’m sure it was absolutely beyond agonizing for my parents and my sister Katy.” The Schmidt family was tired, devastated, and sad to know that the tumor was cancerous and had to start planning how to take care of Karl by being a caregiver.

From that point on, life changed for the Schmidt family. His parents again became his caretakers, as they had to give Karl his medication, prepare meals for him, and help him get around the house. A year later, doctors discovered that the brain cancer had returned. A second surgery was necessary. So was radiation treatment. Schmidt had a rare oligodendroglioma, a low-grade tumor that develops from glial cells called oligodendrocytes, the cells that support and protect nerves. The tumor can be slow-growing with the development of symptoms like headaches and seizures over months or years, or it can all happen in a matter of days or weeks.

“In this second surgery, doctors clean[ed] up the tumor in my brain, like in the edges, to get most of the tumor out," said Schmidt. His condition was not well, yet he returned home; his height was 8.0, and after surgery, he looked pale and lost weight; the symptoms that he was experiencing were headaches, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and fatigue.

Living in Arizona, he received his Chemotherapy and radiation treatment at the highly respected Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale. He went through 30 days of radiation therapy that involves directing high energy rays, such as X-rays, towards the tumor to kill cancer cells. Karl was losing hair and looked weak, restless, agitated, looking confused, tired, and not thinking properly. “It was a terrifying situation seeing someone you love in that condition," said his sister, Katy.

During the second surgery, doctors found a rare oligodendroglioma, a low-grade tumor that develops from glial cells called oligodendrocytes, which support and protect nerves. Most brain tumors can range from slow-growing, developing symptoms like headaches and seizures over months or years or as quickly over days or weeks. There are other likely short-term health consequences: Loss of balance, paralysis, speech, nausea, vomiting, vision problems, balance problem numbness, and memory problems. There are also long-term effects, such as cognitive deficits, gait abnormalities, which is an unusual walking pattern, or radiation necrosis, which is the death of body tissue.

For Schmidt, though, things seemed to go—and stay—well.“ Both surgeries were very successful, and there was no impairment from either [surgery,] which has been fantastic.”

PIONEERING ADVANCES IN BRAIN CANCER RESEARCH AND TREATMENT STRATEGIES

Dr. Akanksha Sharma, a neurologist from Santa Monica’s Pacific Brain Tumor Center, says treatment options remain very limited despite advances in responding to other cancers.

“There is a lot of new [brain cancer] research happening, such as vaccine therapy, but we still don’t have an answer for glioblastoma,” said Sharma. Every year, the Brain tumor 5K Walk takes place in Los Angeles. This organization is the largest nationwide fundraiser for the American Brain Tumor Association; this year’s mission was to raise $150,000, and they raised $185,000 for brain cancer research. “There are only a few FDA-approved therapies for any type of brain cancer, and so we really need to move the needle forward; events like the Brain Tumor 5 K walk really are important because we can get funding and have more research in the area only with researchers today and volunteers.”

Dr. Sharma says experts have found better treatment for many types of cancers but not for brain tumors; this is a particular problem as the rate has increased. “Patients are getting MRIs often to detect any brain tumors, so we become aware early when someone has a brain tumor,” said Sharma.

Steven Giannota, a USC Professor of Neurological Surgery, says more people are likely getting brain cancer because people are living longer and the risk of developing brain tumors generally increases with age (although some types are more common in children). Another common factor in brain cancer is family history. Glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of brain cancer, and only around 5% of patients survive for five years after diagnosis; according to the Brain Tumor Charity, meaning that the “five percent” survival rate for brain cancer is typically associated with a five-year survival widow.

“Right now, we are focused on trying to get people to live longer. So far, there is no cure for glioblastoma,” said Giannota.

USC researchers have a new study of glioblastoma using AI to alter cancer cells, transforming them into dendritic cells which are a type of immune cells in the central part of the body transforming them into dendritic, which are immune cells found in tissues it then identifies cancer cells and direct other immune cells to kill them.

Giannota says USC Brain tumor center has a unique research protocol where people can actually get chemotherapy for their brain tumor by just breathing it into their nose. The treatment does not require chemo in their veins, but rather, the brain absorbs the inner therapy, also known as brachytherapy which is a type of radiation theraphy, It involves placing radioactive material directly inside the body, near or within a tumor to deliver a concentrated dose of radiation while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissues, essentially, treating cancer from within the body.