Jennifer Matthews: Dave Herbert was happily enjoying life when something went terribly wrong.
Dave Herbert: I was reading the paper and all of a sudden I couldn't read every other word.
Jennifer Matthews: An MRI of his brain showed David had a glioblastoma.
Dave Herbert: The worst type of tumor I could have, and probably expect maybe six months.
JenniferMatthews: Surgeons can usually cut the tumor out, but there's one problem.
Sandeep Kunwar: We know that one and two inches away from where the tumor is located, there are microscopic tumor cells mixing with normal cells.
Jennifer Matthews: Until now, nothing could kill the stray cells, so the tumor always came back. Patients rarely survived beyond 15 months. But Dave was diagnosed five years ago.
Sandeep Kunwar: What's most impressive is there's no evidence of any tumor coming back.
Jennifer Matthews: Dave was the first person ever to receive a new drug and a new way of delivering it to the brain.
Doctor Sandeep Kunwar inserted slim tubes into Dave's brain to infuse the drug IL 13-PE38
Sandeep Kunwar: That's a molecularly-targeted drug. It binds to tumor cells within the brain without damaging a normal tissue within the brain.
Jennifer Matthews: That means patients retain cognitive function and can do just about anything they please.
Early study show out of 36 patients, nine are alive two to five years later. Six are cancer-free.
Sandeep Kunwar: For the first time, what it's shown us is we're on the right track.
Dave Herbert: I want to see my grandchildren graduate from college.
Jennifer Matthews: A wish that everyone's hoping will come true. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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