Isaac's story

Isaac's parents, Gary and Geraldine, had their world turned upside down in December 2017 when he was diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma grade III, a rare and aggressive brain tumour on the thalamus making it inoperable.  He was one of only five children diagnosed in Australia.

It all began in November 2017, when Isaac started getting headaches and vomiting. After five weeks of Isaac being unwell and two visits to the doctor, they assumed he was suffering from anxiety due to his end of year exams. He had lost almost 10kg and was severely dehydrated, so in early December they took him to the Royal North Shore Hospital Emergency. The next morning an MRI revealed the shocking news: Isaac had brain cancer.



Over the next year, Isaac endured numerous hospital visits, operations and cycles of chemotherapy; experienced intermittent seizures and neurological issues; and prior to a shunt operation, could only get around by wheelchair when the right side of his body had given away. There were times when Isaac showed signs of improvement and could return to school, feeling stronger and healthier, but sadly an MRI in August 2018 showed that the aggressive part of the tumour was growing.



With no further treatment options available, Isaac’s condition deteriorated further and he was transferred to Bear Cottage for palliative care. Isaac lapsed into an unconscious state for nine days and passed away on 26 November 2018, at 13 years of age.Gary and Geraldine are naturally devastated. They had hoped and believed there would be a different future for Isaac. Their courage throughout has been extraordinary and they are determined to help change the future for other children, like Isaac, by raising the funds needed for dedicated research into new treatments for this aggressive cancer, so that one day every child will survive.

Brain cancer in Australia

• Brain cancer kills more children than any other disease in Australia – about 40 each year.
• More than 100 Australians aged 0-19 years are diagnosed with brain cancer every year.
• Children who survive brain cancer often suffer serious long-term health effects as a result of their treatment.

If a child had leukaemia in the 1960s, their chance of survival was very low; now their chance of survival is more than 90%. Unfortunately, the same is not true for brain cancer. For children with aggressive brain tumours such as anaplastic astrocytoma (Isaac’s diagnosis), survival rates remain dismally low at around 25%.

Making a difference

Isaac’s parents, Gary and Geraldine, set out with a goal of raising $1 million over three years to enable a dedicated team at Children’s Cancer Institute to research a cure for aggressive brain cancer. Thanks to the generosity of Isaac's friends and family, their goal has now been reached!



Gary and Geraldine also had the opportunity to share Isaac's brave journey through key media outlets and attend Children's Cancer Institute's annual Diamond Ball in 2019 as the key speakers. Click through the links to find out more.

Manly Daily

9Honey

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Research progress

Associate Professor David Ziegler heads the Brain Tumours Group at the Institute, where scientists are investigating new therapeutic approaches for aggressive brain cancers.

Thanks to Isaac’s Fund, the Institute was able to recruit Dr Rebecca Lehmann in 2019 to begin working in the Group.

The team’s research has led to exciting progress in recent years:

Combination therapy

In our experiments in the lab, we have found that two drugs used in combination — a CDK4/6 inhibitor (abemaciclib) and an mTOR inhibitor (temsirolimus) — kill a wide range of brain cancer cells.

Our first experiment in living models of disease (mice growing human brain cancer cells) showed that although the combination was well tolerated, it did not lead to improved survival. We are now investigating whether the combination is more successful in mice with a different type of brain cancer.

Since radiation is commonly used in the clinic to treat brain cancer, we are exploring how this combination will work in tandem with radiation. So far, we have focused on cancer cells with the same mutation as Isaac’s tumour, and have found that these cells remain sensitive to radiation.

We are also doing research to understand exactly how this drug combination kills brain tumour cells. Understanding its ‘mechanism of action’ will allow us to develop even more effective treatments.

A new drug

We have been testing a new drug in the lab, and have found that cells carrying the mutation seen in Isaac’s tumour are more sensitive to this drug than other brain cancer cells. We now plan to test this drug in combination with abemaciclib, to see if the two drugs work more effectively together.

Drug resistance

The ability of cancer cells to develop resistance to treatment drugs (drug resistance) is a major problem in the treatment of brain cancer. To understand how this happens, we are working to pinpoint the exact differences between resistant and non-resistant cells.

Recently, we identified several drugs which we believe could be effective against resistant cells. Our preliminary results are promising, with two of the drugs slowing cell growth of these cells. Our next step is to develop combination therapies that are even more effective against drug resistant cells.

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