Professor Richard Scolyer, renowned pathologist and joint Australian of the Year (2024), has died at the age of 59. Scolyer captured the attention of Australians and the world when he volunteered to undergo a world-first experimental treatment for brain cancer.
Professor Richard Scolyer, renowned pathologist and joint Australian of the Year (2024), has died at the age of 59.
Scolyer captured the attention of Australians and the world when he volunteered to undergo a world-first experimental treatment for brain cancer.
This not only extended the duration of his life, but provided scientists with a wealth of knowledge that will help shape the future of brain cancer therapy.
In an open letter Scolyer indented to be published when he passed away, he wrote:
"I sincerely hope the scientific data and awareness I have generated will provide a platform for others to build upon to ultimately make a difference for future cancer patients."
Richard Scolyer is survived by his wife, Dr Katie Nicoll, and his three children, Emily, Matt and Lucy.
Scolyer grew up in the suburb of Riverside in Launceston, Tasmania. He described his memories of his childhood there as "mostly happy", having spent it doing "all the normal things", like biking and footy.
His family went on beach holidays every year, spending their time there swimming and playing cricket.
Scolyer was a lifelong sportsman, playing football as a youth, swimming, cycling, and running as an adult, and channelling his skill at these towards fundraising for charity whenever possible.
In year ten, Scolyer decided to be a doctor, successfully finding his calling very early. He studied medicine at The University of Tasmania.
Once a qualified doctor, he excelled in his role, driven by a great compassion for his patients. His speciality was melanoma, and he was regarded as one of the finest melanoma pathologists in the world.
In 2017, Scolyer was appointed the Co-Medical Director of the Melanoma Institute of Australia, alongside his friend, colleague, and co-2024 Australian of the Year recipient, Professor Georgina Long.
In mid-2023, Scolyer was diagnosed with advanced (stage 4) glioblastoma, the most aggressive and most common form of brain cancer.
Following diagnosis, survival is often only around a year. Treatment for glioblastoma has largely not changed in almost 20 years, and usually involves chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery, but the cancer nearly always returns.
Knowing the severity of his disease, however, and the poor prognosis associated with glioblastoma, Scolyer volunteered to undergo a new glioblastoma treatment method that borrowed from newer techniques in the melanoma space. Those techniques are called immunotherapies.
Immunotherapy is a term for a variety of relatively new techniques that are becoming more widespread.
The immune system is remarkably strong. So strong, in fact, it can kill almost anything, even you. Think of a severe allergic reaction - that's the immune system being activated essentially by mistake, and it can be lethal.
The immune system needs to be kept under control, and one way the body does that is by using "checkpoints". These are proteins on the immune cells that are like an "off switch" for the immune system.
It makes sense, then, that one of the most widely used immunotherapies are the "immune checkpoint inhibitors". These are drugs that "turn off the off switch", activating the immune system to help fight cancer.
To treat his glioblastoma, Scolyer was given simultaneous doses of three different checkpoint inhibitors, followed by surgery to remove as much cancer as possible from his brain 12 days later.
Scolyer then underwent six weeks of radiation therapy, received some additional checkpoint inhibitors, and even a "personalised peptide vaccination".
Peptide vaccination is another type of immunotherapy. The aim is to try to teach the immune system what a patient's cancer cells look like so, if their cancer comes back, the immune system can better fight against it.
Eighteen months after surgery, Scolyer's tumour was still gone.
For a disease as difficult to treat as glioblastoma, it was an incredible result, and a testament to the skill of the scientists and clinicians involved, as well as to the tenacity and strength of Scolyer himself.
The success of his treatment quickly led to the creation of a clinical trial, looking at how this new glioblastoma treatment program can be adapted and used more widely in the future.
Scolyer's bravery and trailblazing approach to his own care will almost certainly contribute to extending the lives of hundreds, even thousands of people who will be diagnosed with glioblastoma in the future.
More than that, researchers will be able to adapt these techniques to treat other cancers and diseases, which has the potential to benefit even more patients.
Sadly, in March 2025, Scolyer announced that his cancer had returned. It had been almost two years since his original diagnosis - a remarkable extension to his life, considering the dangerous nature of his disease.
Scolyer will live on in the memories of all that knew him, and his contributions to science and medicine will touch the lives of people worldwide for years to come, even if they never knew his name.
TheConversation.com
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