Michael Bolton diagnosed with brain cancer glioblastoma. What is that?
Michael Bolton diagnosed with brain cancer glioblastoma. What is that?
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Stanford Medicine trial cell therapy fights childhood brain cancer
A participant in a Stanford cancer trial trial showed no detectable signs of brain cancer and others showed shrunken tumors.
Michael Bolton's battle with glioblastoma has brought renewed attention to one of the most complex, deadly and treatment-resistant cancers.
The singer, 72, told People he was diagnosed in December 2023 after having emergency surgery. He also underwent another brain surgery in January 2024.
In the interview published April 30, Bolton said he finished radiation and chemotherapy in October and his most recent scan was clear in early April.
The five-year survival rate for glioblastoma patients is about 6.9%, and the average length of survival is estimated to be only eight months, according to the National Brain Tumor Society. However, Bolton told People that he has intentionally not received a prognosis.
Here's what to know about the aggressive brain tumor.
What is glioblastoma?
Glioblastoma is a form of brain cancer that starts as a growth of cells in the brain or spinal cord, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The cancer is aggressive and can grow quickly while invading and destroying healthy tissue, Dr. Mustafa Khasraw, neuro-oncologist at Duke University School of Medicine, said during a January 2023 interview.
'A diagnosis of glioblastoma is a death sentence,' with most patients dying two years after diagnosis, he said.
It's estimated that more than 10,000 people will die from glioblastoma every year, according to the National Brain Tumor Society.
Some prominent figures who have died from glioblastoma include Mia Love, the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, Beau Biden, son of former U.S. President Joe Biden, and U.S. Senator John McCain.
Symptoms of glioblastoma
Although a diagnosis can occur at any age, the Mayo Clinic said older adults are more likely to develop glioblastoma.
Symptoms of glioblastoma include:
Headache
Nausea and vomiting
Confusion, decline in brain function or memory loss
Personality changes or irritability
Vision changes, such as blurred vision, double vision or loss of peripheral vision
Speech difficulties
Trouble with balance or coordination
Muscle weakness in the face, arms or legs
Seizures, particularly in someone who has never experienced them before
Bolton told People magazine his treatments have impacted his short-term memory, speech and mobility.
More on Bolton: Michael Bolton speaks out on brain cancer diagnosis: 'I want to keep going'
Is there a cure for glioblastoma?
Glioblastoma can sometimes be treated with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy or brain surgery, called a craniotomy, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
While treatments might slow cancer growth and reduce symptoms, there is no cure.
It's one of the few cancers that has seen little progress in two decades despite increased funding from organizations, institutions and pharmaceutical companies, Khasraw said. This is partly due to the cancer's aggressive nature and how difficult it is to include enough participants in robust clinical trials.
'It has been notoriously difficult to discover great new therapies and improve outcomes,' he said. 'It's an area of unmet need.'
Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@usatoday.com.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Alzheimer's blood test ‘can accurately pick up early symptoms'
A new blood test for Alzheimer's disease can accurately detect people with early symptoms, research suggests. Experts from the Mayo Clinic in the US have provided further evidence that blood tests can work to accurately diagnose dementia, by examining two proteins in blood plasma. These proteins – amyloid beta 42/40 and p-tau217 – are associated with amyloid plaque build-up, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found the blood test was highly accurate, with 95% sensitivity, which means it was 95% accurate in picking up people with memory problems, with very few cases missed. It was also 82% for specificity, which means it was also highly accurate in ruling out people without dementia. The study was carried out on more than 500 people in an outpatient memory clinic, meaning it is real-world data. The blood test has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration regulator in the US. Dr Gregg Day, who led the study in the Alzheimer's and Dementia journal, said the test was as good as more invasive tests currently in use. 'Our study found that blood testing affirmed the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease with 95% sensitivity and 82% specificity,' he said. 'When performed in the outpatient clinical setting, this is similar to the accuracy of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of the disease and is much more convenient and cost-effective.' Overall, researchers found that p-tau217 levels were higher in patients with Alzheimer's disease versus those without the disease. Dr Day said the next steps in the research were to evaluate blood-based testing in more diverse patient populations and people with early Alzheimer's who show no cognitive symptoms. Dr Richard Oakley, associate director for research and innovation at the Alzheimer's Society in the UK, said the results 'suggest this test is very accurate' and could be used alongside other tests and observations from a trained health professional. He added: 'This study shows how blood tests are making diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease quicker, easier and more accessible than ever before in a real-world setting. 'While focused on Alzheimer's disease, the test was evaluated in people with other types of dementias too, showing that it may help with differentiate causes of cognitive decline – though more research in diverse groups of individuals and in community-based setting is still needed. 'Currently diagnosis options in the UK are often slow, expensive and can be invasive, meaning thousands miss out on the benefits one can bring. 'It's great to see blood tests like this approved for clinical use in the US – we hope to see the same in the NHS, which is why we're part of the Blood Biomarker Challenge.' The Blood Biomarker Challenge is a multi-million-pound research programme supported by the Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's Research UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. Its goal is to bring blood tests for dementia diagnosis to the NHS by 2029. Dr Oakley said: 'Blood tests will be critical to accelerate diagnosis and give more people access to the care, support and treatments they desperately need faster than ever before. 'We must see long-term investment in the tools and workforce needed to ensure everyone living with dementia can get an early an accurate diagnosis, which is even more important with disease-modifying treatments on the horizon.' Dr Julia Dudley, head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: 'We urgently need to improve how we diagnose dementia and it's great to see international research working towards this goal. 'Blood tests in this study look at p-tau217 and amyloid beta 42/40, and showed the tests offered high accuracy in confirming Alzheimer's disease. 'This study adds to the growing evidence that blood tests can detect the diseases that cause dementia in people with early memory and thinking problems. 'An important point to consider is that people taking part in research don't always reflect the full diversity of those affected by dementia, who might have additional conditions or other characteristics. 'That is why work is needed to understand whether these blood tests work in a real-world setting. 'In the UK, studies like the Blood Biomarker Challenge are helping to build this evidence. 'The study is testing blood tests, including p-tau217, in thousands of people from sites across the UK. 'This work will be a crucial part of making diagnosis easier and faster, which will bring us closer to a cure.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
New FDA-approved Alzheimer's blood test coming to Mayo Clinic
The Brief The FDA has approved the marketing of a new blood test by Fujirebio. The biomarker test measures the ratio of tau and amyloid proteins in the blood of a person with symptoms of cognitive decline to confirm the presence of Alzheimer's disease. Mayo Clinic will be one of 37 Alzheimer's clinics across the country to receive the new blood testing equipment starting at the end of June. MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the marketing of a new tool to that can test a person's blood to diagnose Alzheimer's disease. The blood test is a groundbreaking development to confirm the disease in patients who are already experiencing cognitive decline. What we know The diagnostic tool, called Lumipulse, is manufactured by the world-wide medical research and development firm Fujirebio. The procedure, called the G pTau 217/β-Amyloid 1-42 Plasma Ratio in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) test, measures the presence of the amyloid and tau proteins in the brain that build the plaques leading to Alzheimer's disease. Fujirebio will now start distributing the diagnostic tests by the end of June to 37 Alzheimer's clinics across the United States including Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "I was very excited to get the news that there was an FDA approved test," said Alicia Algeciras-Schimnich, Ph.D. of Mayo Clinic who's been offering a version of the blood test for the past year in their laboratory. "It's just increasing the access to patients, and now many more laboratories will be able to offer this test." Dr. Algeciras-Schimnich says Mayo hopes will have the capacity to offer 1,000 to 5,000 blood tests a month with this new diagnostic protocol. What patients say Tim Sandry admits he's never had the best memory, but when he approached turning 67, he and his wife Ellen started noticing changes. "I wanted to find out what's going on here," recalled Sandry when he and his wife decided to see a neurologist. The doctor put him through a series of cognitive tests and determined he had what's called mild cognitive impairment which is a noticeable slowing of memory function. It wasn't long after his cognitive tests that a new diagnostic spinal tap was available to detect the presence of Alzheimer's disease. But it was invasive and painful. "In the morning they took the spinal fluid, and then I had to stay very still for the rest of the day. And then they sent me home, and I had an awful headache for the next three days," said Sandry of the hospital procedure. This new test would have saved him the pain and provided reliable results. "Oh, so much difference," said Sandry about the chance to have had a diagnostic blood test. "I mean, this blood test is going to shake things up dramatically I believe." Why you should care The faster a person experiencing cognitive decline can get a positive diagnosis for Alzheimer's the faster they can start taking one of two recently FDA approved drugs to slow the progression of the disease. Those drugs are Leqembi and Kisunla. "It makes it much quicker for those people to start treatment and to start looking at what options there are, whether it's clinical trials or medication," said Jenna Fink of the Alzheimer's Association Minnesota-North Dakota chapter. Sandry has been on a regimen of Leqembi since his own diagnosis and he believes it has dramatically slowed the disease in his own brain. "The sooner you get diagnosed, the quicker you can get on those drugs and the less damage this will do to your brain And the longer you will be able to function, cognitively," he said. Dig deeper The new blood test not only speeds up the diagnosis process, it also offers more accuracy. "The clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer disease is only about 70-75% accurate," said Mayo's Alicia Algeciras-Schimnich of the standard practice of cognitive testing and PET scans of the brain. Adding the blood biomarker test increases the accuracy of an Alzheimer's diagnosis to 90-95%. "So really, it is a significant improvement in the diagnosis for patients, which now can have an earlier answer for their symptoms," said Algeciras-Schmnich.' By the numbers As many as 101,900 Minnesotan over the age of 65 are living with Alzheimer's according to the 2025 facts and figures report from the Alzheimer's Association. That adds up to 10.7% of Minnesota adults over 65. Alzheimer's affects more than just the patients. For every patient, there are caregivers, many of them family members. When those numbers are added up, the Alzheimer's Association estimates there are 166,000 caregivers in Minnesota. Across the nation, 7.2 million Americans are living with the Alzheimer's, and 74% are over the age of 75.
CNN
4 hours ago
- CNN
Morten Harket, lead singer of a-ha, has Parkinson's disease
Morten Harket has revealed he has Parkinson's disease. The singer of a-ha, the band behind the 1985 hit and innovatively animated music video 'Take On Me,' shared the news during an interview with the group's biographer. 'I've got no problem accepting the diagnosis,' Harket said. 'With time, I've taken to heart my 94-year-old father's attitude to the way the organism gradually surrenders: 'I use whatever works'.' Harket, 65, explained why he wanted to share his diagnosis publicly. 'Acknowledging the diagnosis wasn't a problem for me; it's my need for peace and quiet to work that has been stopping me. I'm trying the best I can to prevent my entire system from going into decline,' he said. 'It's a difficult balancing act between taking the medication and managing its side effects. There's so much to weigh up when you're emulating the masterful way the body handles every complex movement, or social matters and invitations, or day-to-day life in general.' According to Mayo Clinic, 'Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder of the nervous system that worsens over time.' Harket had 'advanced brain surgery' at the Mayo Clinic, which along with medication, 'have softened the impact of his symptoms,' the a-ha biographer, Jan Omdahl, wrote. 'In June 2024, Morten underwent a neurosurgical procedure in which electrodes were implanted deep inside the left side of his brain. These are connected to a small pacemaker-like device placed under the skin of the upper chest that sends electrical impulses through the electrodes into the brain,' Omdahl wrote. 'The method is called deep brain stimulation (DBS) and is among the most advanced treatments in neurology. The procedure had the desired effect: with the right electrical impulses now reaching Morten's brain, many of his physical symptoms practically vanished. In December 2024 he underwent a similar procedure on the right side of his brain, which was also successful.' Harket's voice, however, has been affected, he said. 'The problems with my voice are one of many grounds for uncertainty about my creative future,' Harket said.
