What is glioblastoma, the aggressive brain cancer that killed former US Rep. Mia Love?

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The death Sunday of former U.S. Rep. Mia Love, the first Black Republican woman elected to the U.S. House, has brought renewed attention to an aggressive form of brain cancer that killed her at age 49.

The former lawmaker from Utah had undergone treatment for glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor, and received immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial. Her daughter said earlier this month that she was no longer responding to treatment.

Related:  Tributes pour in at the news of Rep. Mia Love’s death

Love died at her home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, according to a statement shared by the family.

Who was Mia Love?

Love, born Ludmya Bourdeau, was a daughter of Haitian immigrants and a pioneering Republican congresswoman who represented Utah on Capitol Hill from 2015 to 2019.

She entered politics in 2003 after winning a seat on the city council in Saratoga Springs, 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City, and later became the city’s mayor. While in that role, Love spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention and drew rousing cheers with her criticisms of then-President Barack Obama.

That year, she narrowly lost a bid for the House against the Democratic incumbent. She ran again two years later and defeated a first-time candidate by about 7,500 votes, becoming the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress.

Love was briefly considered a rising star in the GOP, but her power within the party petered out as President Donald Trump took hold. Love kept her distance from Trump and called him out in 2018 for vulgar comments he made about immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and some African nations. Later that year, she lost in the midterm elections as Democrats surged.

How did Love die?

Love was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2022. She said her doctors estimated she had only 10-15 months to live, but she surpassed that.

She described during a speaking engagement in Salt Lake City how she discovered the tumor. Love said she was on vacation with her family and developed a bad headache when the plane landed. When she went to the beach, the sun’s reflection on the water made her headache unbearable. Her husband brought her to the hospital, and a series of X-rays revealed a tumor in her brain.

Love rushed home to Utah and had surgery to remove about 95% of the tumor. Biopsy results revealed it was cancerous and likely to spread to surrounding brain tissue.

She entered a clinical trial at Duke University’s Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center in Durham, North Carolina, that involved using her body’s immune system to attack the tumor. At first, the tumor shrank, but eventually it stopped responding to treatments.

What is glioblastoma?

“Glioblastoma is the most aggressive primary brain tumor that’s known to mankind, and there is no cure for it,” said Dr. Yasmeen Rauf, a neuro-oncologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who treats the disease. “It keeps mutating. No matter what you do, it always comes back.”

A glioblastoma is a fast-growing glioma, a type of tumor that arises from glial cells, which protect nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

While there is no known cure, aggressive treatments such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and other targeted therapies may slow the growth of the tumor. Even if a surgeon is able to remove all that can be seen, Rauf said there are typically still some tumor cells left in the brain that cannot be seen and will multiply quickly.

How common is it?

About 13,000 Americans are diagnosed with glioblastoma each year, accounting for almost half of all cancerous brain tumors, according to the Cleveland Clinic. More than 10,000 people in the U.S. will succumb to the disease every year, the National Brain Tumor Society reports.

Glioblastoma can occur at any age but is more commonly found in older adults. The average age at diagnosis is 64.

It’s the same type of brain cancer that killed former President Joe Biden’s son Beau Biden in 2015 and Sen. John McCain in 2018.

Can it be prevented?

Researchers have not found a way to prevent glioblastoma, and the cause of most of these tumors is unknown. Glioblastoma occurs when glial cells in the brain or spinal cord mutate, altering their genetic makeup.

It does not run in families, and you won’t pass it on to your children, Rauf explained.

People who have been exposed to significant amounts of radiation have an increased risk of developing glioblastoma.

How long can you live with it?

People diagnosed with glioblastoma typically have about 15-18 months to live, with only a 10% chance of survival after five years, according to the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

With aggressive treatments, Love lived for about three years after receiving her diagnosis.

“My life has been extended by exceptional medical care, science and extraordinary professionals who have become dear friends,” Love wrote in a recent op-ed in the Deseret News. “My extra season of life has also been the result of the faith and prayers of countless friends, known and unknown.”