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5 min readIn Dedication: Richard Scolyer on Risk, Hope and Radical Cancer Treatment
Professor Richard Scolyer was a world-leading pathologist and co-medical director of the Melanoma Institute Australia who, alongside his colleague Professor Georgina Long, helped transform advanced melanoma from an almost always fatal diagnosis into a cancer that is now often curable. In 2024, they were jointly named Australians of the Year for this work. But in 2023, Scolyer received his own devastating diagnosis: grade 4 brain cancer, a glioblastoma with an average survival of about 14 months — and for patients over 50 receiving standard therapy, roughly 12 months. His particular tumor carried additional adverse prognostic factors. Rather than step back, he volunteered to become patient zero for a radical, never-before-tried immunotherapy protocol adapted from the melanoma treatments he and Long had pioneered. At the time of this conversation, he was over 16 months past diagnosis and doing remarkably well.
The Skin Cancer Landscape
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What you'll learn
- 1 Timestamped Navigation Outline
- 2 (00:00) **Opening Dedication** - Host explains this is a replay of a conversation with Professor Richard Scolyer, who was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer in 2023 and volunteered for a radical immunotherapy protocol based on his own melanoma research.
- 3 (02:15) **Introducing Richard Scolyer** - Host summarizes the situation: a world-leading melanoma researcher now using his own team's treatments on himself for brain cancer, based on a sample size of one.
- 4 (03:44) **The Team Behind the Breakthroughs** - Scolyer describes the multidisciplinary faculty at the Melanoma Institute Australia and the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration.
- 5 (04:43) **The Brain Cancer Diagnosis** - Scolyer explains his specific brain cancer subtype and its grim prognosis.
- 6 (06:09) **Understanding Skin Cancer Types** - Scolyer explains the three major skin cancer types: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma.
- 7 (09:14) **Melanocytes and Melanoma Formation** - Detailed explanation of how melanocytes work and how they can transform into melanoma.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
This conversation was originally recorded and published in November, 2024. In light of Richard's passing, we wanted to share it again because his insights remain as inspiring and relevant as ever. We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
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