All posts tagged: Glioblastoma

Mum given six months to live after thinking she was stressed moving house

Mum given six months to live after thinking she was stressed moving house

Published by Sam Flores

Lizzie Pitt with husband Al (Image: Brain Tumour Research/SWNS) A mother who attributed her migraines to the pressures of relocating was subsequently diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour. Lizzie Pitt, 46, experienced sudden nausea in February 2025 and her son Felix, then 10, discovered her on the floor “acting weird”. She put it down to the strain of moving home and “juggling” work and family commitments, but when she lost control of her legs during the night she was taken urgently to Airedale Hospital in Yorkshire. Scans revealed a brain tumour, which she was initially informed was not cancerous, and she underwent surgery to remove the majority of the growth. The full-time art teacher and special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCo) was subsequently informed she had grade 4 glioblastoma – and was given six months to live without treatment. She has since received chemotherapy and radiotherapy and electrical hyperthermia immunotherapy treatment to extend her life. Lizzie, from Hawkswick, North Yorkshire, said: “My brain tumour journey began completely out of the blue. Felix, who was …

UVA scientists discover possible new treatment for deadliest brain cancer

UVA scientists discover possible new treatment for deadliest brain cancer

Published by Jenni Sidey

Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine are chasing a new way to slow glioblastoma, the deadliest brain cancer. Their work centers on a gene called AVIL and a new drug-like molecule that shuts it down in lab tests and in mice. The research comes from Hui Li, a professor in UVA’s Department of Pathology and a scientist at the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center. His team reports the findings in Science Translational Medicine. The group says a small molecule, called Compound A, blocks a protein made by AVIL and slows tumor growth without obvious harmful side effects in mice. Glioblastoma is a fast-growing cancer that spreads through brain tissue like tangled roots. Doctors can cut out what they can see, but the tumor often threads into healthy brain. Radiation and chemotherapy can help for a while, but not for long. A cancer with few good options If you or someone close to you has followed glioblastoma, the numbers are hard to forget. Survival averages about 15 months after diagnosis. Roughly 12,000 to 14,000 …