“Today” show host Sheinelle Jones is back on the air and detailed the loss of her husband to brain cancer.
Uche Ojeh died in May at the age of 45 from an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma.
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On Friday, WRAL News spoke with Duke Health Neuro-oncologist Dr. Annick Desjardins. She is also a professor of neurosurgery and neurology at Duke.
“Glioblastoma is what we call a primary brain tumor,” Desjardins said. “What that means is it is a form of cancer that starts in the brain.
“It is not, for example, lung cancer that travels and metastasizes to the brain. It is a type of cancer that starts directly in the brain.”
Desjardins, who sees patients at the Duke Cancer Institute and The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, said glioblastoma is the most aggressive of all the primary brain tumors.
“It is not a cancer that is really frequent,” Desjardins said. “There [are] about 14,000 cases diagnoses every year in the U.S”
Desjardins said most patients with glioblastoma are 65 or older. In older adults, Desjardins said it can spread faster and often causes severe headaches.
In younger patients, Desjardins said this type of brain tumor is typically slower-growing and mainly causes seizures.
The American Brain Tumor Association lists headaches, nausea, vomiting and drowsiness as symptoms for the tumor. Depending on where the tumor is, however, weakness on one side of the body, memory and speech difficulties and visual changes can all be developed as a result.
>> How is glioblastoma treated?
Regardless of age, the tumors are extremely difficult to treat because of the body’s natural defense response to things like chemotherapy.
“The brain is protected by what we call the ‘blood-brain barrier,’” Desjardins said. “We were developed like that so that toxins, infections and poisons will not damage our brain.
“Unfortunately, it’s preventing us from treating glioblastoma with most available drugs for cancer.”
Duke researchers are working to change that. In 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug for low-grade glioma, based off clinical trials done at Duke.
According to the American Brain Tumor Association, glioma is a general term used to describe any tumor that arises from the supportive (“gluey”) tissue of the brain. This tissue, called “glia,” helps to keep the neurons in place and functioning well.
“I think what has evolved the most in glioblastoma research over the last 30 years is really the fact that we now understand the issue that we can’t just use the compounds or drugs that are used for other cancer,” Desjardins said. “That’s what we were doing in the past, and we need to develop drugs that are specific for the brain tumor.
“We also need to figure out drugs that will cross the blood-brain barrier.”
Duke’s Brain Tumor Center sees about 1,000 new adult and pediatric patients with every year.
Doctors say stories like Ojeh’s are so powerful, not only to raise awareness about symptoms, but also to let people know about the resources that are available.
In 2017, WRAL News spoke with Duke neurosurgeon Dr. Peter Fecci, who said the average glioblastoma patient lives between 13 and 17 months after a diagnosis.
“We actually do have people here … at Duke that are being treated that are more than 10 years out with these tumors,” Fecci said in 2017. “So, it does range substantially these days whereas 10-20 years ago, that wouldn’t have been feasible.”
Glioblastoma claimed the lives of Sens. John McCain, Edward Kennedy and the mother of WRAL reporter Amanda Lamb.
In 2015, CBS’ “60 Minutes” did a segment on Duke University’s research about injecting a genetically modified polio virus directly into a brain tumor. The virus latches onto cancer cells and activates the body's immune system to attack the tumor.
WRAL Documentary “Diagnosis: Young, The New Face of Cancer in NC"
The WRAL Documentary team has done extensive reporting on the uptick in younger cancer patients.
The documentary follows three North Carolinians in their 20s and 30s who never expected a cancer diagnosis so early in life.