The life of Robert Glynn, a 51-year-old soldier from a town in the Manchester metropolitan area, took a turn the day before his 49th birthday when, after going to the doctor for severe shoulder pain, he was diagnosed with root canal cancer. intrahepatic bile.
A rare and very aggressive type of tumor that accelerates the creation and growth of cells in the bile ducts, the channels that connect the liver, gallbladder, and small intestine and that release bile that helps digest fats.
It is also known as cancer of the biliary tract, and does not enjoy a high survival rate. In fact, Glynn was predicted that he barely had a year to live.
When it was detected, the tumors were too large and had spread, making it impossible to intervene.
Everything changed when he agreed to join an experimental clinical trial for which he was the ideal candidate, as his tumor had a high mutation load that, the doctors thought, made him sensitive to immunotherapy combined with chemo, in a study that is based on personalized medicine; that is, to adjust the doses and characteristics to specific cases.
The immunological drug used for the treatment has not been made public because it is an experimental process and the regulations do not allow it, although it is known that it has been used in other cases of lung, esophageal and kidney tumors.
The drug shrank the tumors and finally Glynn was able to undergo surgery to have them removed from his body. To the surprise of the doctors, the cancerous tissues that were removed were deadwhich means that the treatment not only made the operation possible but also left him free of cancer, turning that initial year of life into a future with no known expiration date, in which it is one of the great triumphs of science and medicine in this past year.