TAMPA, Fla. — When a Florida father and grandfather was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, he was told by doctors he had anywhere from five to 18 months to live.
“When you research what’s this, what’s this GBM you know and start seeing what it is and what it does and how aggressive it is, and only 5% of people make it to five years. It really, it’s really like cold water,” said Armando De Zayas.
Then, he learned about a clinical trial at Moffitt Cancer Center for patients exactly like him.
De Zayas allowed Tampa Bay 28 to be there during his treatment to see the process and listen to his story.
“Whenever I leave the house, I have my cross with me, just to feel him,” said De Zayas.
DeZayas is an avid cyclist.
“I’m the guy in the spandex and the helmet you want to run off the road,” De Zayas laughs.
He takes us back to a beautiful Saturday morning last year.
“So I went for a bike. Quick 20 miler. No big deal,” said De Zayas.
When he got back from the ride, the headache started.
“That night, still had the headache. Sunday, still had the headache. And that lasted all the way through Wednesday morning. The headache would not go away,” said De Zayas.
He ended up getting an MRI, and then his doctor called.
“He [Armando’s doctor] says, 'Armando, I don’t have good news for you,'” said De Zayas. “And he said, ‘Hey you have a mass in your brain and you have severe swelling, so you need to drop what you’re doing and get to the hospital,' And sure enough, I had a baseball-sized tumor on the right side of my head.”
De Zayas had surgery in South Florida and learned the tumor was a Glioblastoma.
“Mortality hits you in the face,” said De Zayas.
At that point, he thought he was out of options and planned to take everything one day at a time. Then, De Zayas learned about a groundbreaking clinical trial for patients with Glioblastoma, so he came to Moffitt Cancer Center.
“Somebody has to be the first, and so I said yes,” said De Zayas.
“Whenever I leave the house before I grab the keys, I grab my cross and I bring it to every treatment and I bring it to every MRI, you know, and I just I’m able to pray and meditate and just put myself, you know, in the shoes of peace,” said De Zayas.
“Glioblastoma is actually one of the deadliest cancers that can occur in humans,” said Dr. Michael Vogelbaum.
He is the Chief of Neurosurgery and Program Leader of the Department of Neuro Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. He is also leading the clinical trial.
“So one of the biggest challenges that we’ve had for treating patients with Glioblastoma is most therapeutics that are given systemically either orally or IV, can’t get into the brain. We have something called a blood-brain barrier. And that’s a very important physiologic entity that helps to keep poisons from getting into the brain and so unfortunately it also keeps out some of the therapeutics that we use to treat cancer, actually most of them, probably more than 98% of them,” said Dr. Vogelbaum.
This trial focuses on breaking down the blood-brain barrier temporarily to get chemotherapy in.
“So the general approach here is to use ultrasound in combination with what are called microbubbles to temporarily break down the blood-brain barrier,” said Dr. Vogelbaum.
The ultrasound is implanted directly above the tumor location in De Zayas’ brain, and it can be activated through a receiver that sits underneath the scalp.
“During the sonification, I’ll be holding on to this [his cross]. I am surprised it hasn’t cracked,” said De Zayas.
He continued, “I beat the one-year mark already. When I was first diagnosed, I was told, you know, anywhere from five to 18 months."
The day Tampa Bay 28 was there was a huge milestone in De Zayas’ journey.
“And today is your last treatment for this year,” said St. Germain.
“Today is my last treatment. It was seven total. It’s my last one,” said De Zayas.
“What is it like for you to see Armando here today on his last treatment?” asked St. Germain
“Oh, it’s fantastic. I mean, you know, in our world in Glioblastoma, seeing a patient complete a course of treatment and doing so well, and especially being so functional, that’s what we are trying to get to for everybody. And so anyone that we see who does this, well, it’s just a victory for us,” said Dr. Vogelbaum.
“What’s it going to be like for you to ring that bell?” asked St. Germain.
“Earlier today, I heard somebody ring that bell, and I said to myself, 'That’s going to be me pretty soon.' You know, in a couple hours, I’ll be ringing that bell myself,” said De Zayas.
Prior to his last treatment, DeZayas had an MRI and received great news.
“The MRI is showing that I don’t have tumor progression,” said De Zayas.
“Armando is done!” exclaimed Moffitt staff as De Zayas rings the bell.
“Because once you have cancer, you know it’s not about you and the cancer. Everybody in your family has it, you can say, because they’re all living it. You know, especially my wife and sons, they are all living it with me,” said De Zayas.
“Sounds like you have an army behind you,” said St. Germain.
“I have a prayer army,” said De Zayas.
Giving him the peace and strength to push through his journey, one step at a time.
St. Germain has stayed in touch with De Zayas since his final treatment. He had another MRI in August, and the results showed no tumor progression. He has been off chemotherapy for weeks and is back to riding 20+ miles on his bike.
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