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Australian doctor who underwent world-first brain tumour treatment dies

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Tiffanie Turnbull

Tim Bauer

Richard Scolyer is globally recognised for his pioneering work on melanoma treatment

Pioneering Australian doctor Richard Scolyer has died, three years after being diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour.

Scolyer, 59, made global headlines for his decision to undergo a risky world-first experimental treatment for his glioblastoma at the hands of his friend Professor Georgina Long - based on the pair's own scientific breakthroughs in skin cancer.

Their work on advanced melanoma - once a death sentence - has saved countless lives, and their encouraging findings in treating Scolyer's brain tumour have triggered an early stage clinical trial in the US.

"I wanted to keep contributing, even in my darkest hour," Scolyer said in an open letter announcing his death.

"I pen this letter as a final goodbye to all those I have had the immense privilege of loving, sharing life's adventures with, working alongside and meeting during what can only be described as a life filled with happiness, optimism, opportunity and passion."

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called Prof Scolyer "one of our brightest lights and one of our biggest hearts".

"Every day, this remarkable man - the cancer specialist who became his own subject - took us into his confidence, and he lifted us all in the process."

One of the country's most respected medical minds, Prof Scolyer became a national treasure. In 2024, he was named Australian of the Year alongside Long.

As co-directors of the Melanoma Institute Australia, over the past decade the pair's research on immunotherapy, which uses the body's immune system to attack cancer cells, has dramatically improved outcomes for advanced melanoma patients globally. Half are now essentially cured, up from less than 10%.

Scolyer also pointed to the mentoring of up-and-coming pathologists as a source of pride in his career.

"I have always been driven by the belief that we all have a responsibility to try to change the future for others and leave the world a better place... I have lived that ethos to the fullest."

Becoming a 'guinea pig'

Speaking to the BBC in 2024, Scolyer said he refused to take his shock diagnosis lying down.

Glioblastomas, found in the brain's connective tissue, are notoriously aggressive and the general protocol for treating them - immediate excision then radiotherapy and chemotherapy - has changed little in two decades. Most patients with Scolyer's form of tumour survive less than a year.

"It didn't sit right with me… to just accept certain death without trying something," Prof Scolyer said.

"It's an incurable cancer? Well bugger that!"

Long was similarly determined. She spent the hours after she was told of her friend's diagnosis grieving, then plotting.

Cancer doctor takes gamble to treat his brain tumour

In melanoma, her team discovered that immunotherapy works better when a combination of drugs is used, and when they are administered before any surgery to remove a tumour. And so, Prof Scolyer in 2023 became the first brain cancer patient to ever have combination, pre-surgery immunotherapy.

He was also given a vaccine personalised to his tumour's characteristics, which boosts the cancer-detecting powers of the drugs.

Scolyer and Long knew the odds of a cure were "minuscule", but hoped the experimental treatment would prolong Prof Scolyer's life.

Subsequent scans appeared to show a positive immune response in the brain - and a small clinical trial is now trying to replicate those results.

"This was science in action!" esteemed melanoma surgeon John Thompson AO said in a statement paying tribute to his friend.

Describing Scolyer as a "cheery, down-to-earth, lad from Launceston" and...