Rad Chat Live #19 at the MR Linac Consortium 2026 in Montreal: Dr. Detsky - Groundbreaking Glioblastoma MR-Linac Research

It must be incredible to do this kind of research and just know that you are doing something that could potentially change life for this cohort of patients.

We hope.

We really hope.

And I do get some people who say, you know, this population, it's a horrible disease.

The survival is a year and a half to two years on average.

And so, you know, you're adjusting margins, but

almost all patients

within two years are essentially going to unfortunately pass from this

disease.

So I've had the attitude from some people, not in exact words, being like, why are you bothering? My opinion and my colleagues is that if people only have a year and a half to two years to live, we have to optimize their quality of life for that time.

They know they have an incurable, awful disease, and if we can keep their cognition intact and their function intact and they can go and do the things they want to do in the last two years they have left of life, That is important.

And I think patients would agree that's important.

So the sort of nihilistic view of, well, all these patients are going to die anyways, that doesn't mean we shouldn't stop pushing the needle forward, in my

opinion.

Three people to die from a GBM in the last 18 months.

I would argue that us as friends, family, we would want this to happen.

Even if it's another eight months or so where someone is cognizant and you can spend time with them, I don't see why it wouldn't.

So yeah, I'm glad you're pushing back.

It must be incredible to do this kind of research and just know that you are doing something that could potentially change life for this cohort of patients.

We hope.

We really hope.

And I do get some people who say, you know, this population, it's a horrible disease.

The survival is a year and a half to two years on average.

And so, you know, you're adjusting margins, but

almost all patients

within two years are essentially going to unfortunately pass from this

disease.

So I've had the attitude from some people, not in exact words, being like, why are you bothering? My opinion and my colleagues is that if people only have a year and a half to two years to live, we have to optimize their quality of life for that time.

They know they have an incurable, awful disease, and if we can keep their cognition intact and their function intact and they can go and do the things they want to do in the last two years they have left of life, That is important.

And I think patients would agree that's important.

So the sort of nihilistic view of, well, all these patients are going to die anyways, that doesn't mean we shouldn't stop pushing the needle forward, in my

opinion.

Three people to die from a GBM in the last 18 months.

I would argue that us as friends, family, we would want this to happen.

Even if it's another eight months or so where someone is cognizant and you can spend time with them, I don't see why it wouldn't.

So yeah, I'm glad you're pushing back.