Arizona veteran with stage 4 brain cancer undergoes awake surgery

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Imagine being awake while surgeons operate on your brain. For one Arizona veteran battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, it is part of a plan to give him something he was once told he had very little of: time. Now, three and a half years post-diagnosis, doctors are using cutting-edge science and his own cancer cells in the fight for his future.

Meet Kyle:

Kyle Fischer is a fighter. The veteran joined the Air Force after Sept. 11 in 2001.

"It was this horrendous event and just God just changed my heart, broke my heart for all these people," Fischer said.

He worked on surveillance aircraft. After a few years, he separated from service in search of a quiet life.

The backstory:

There was an even greater personal challenge on the road ahead. In February 2023, Fischer lost vision in one of his eyes and started getting frequent headaches.

"I guess they were migraines, you know? But I was able to sleep, you now, for the most part. There was a couple of nights I couldn't sleep," Fischer said.

Worsening Symptoms:

He had just started a new company, figured it was stress, but his symptoms got worse.

"Eight seizures, two life flights, and a broken jaw," Fischer said. "My feet have a little neuropathy in them. So basically it's like your foot falling asleep and just never waking up. Sometimes I will lose a word and it takes a moment for that to come or somebody has to help me with it."

The Diagnosis:

He went to Mayo Clinic, and that is where he got the news.

"You have a major mass in your in your brain You have no cerebral spinal fluid like we don't even understand How'd you just come in here and you basically had a week to live - if you didn't walk in the doors today," Fischer said.

They performed brain surgery that night, diagnosed him with stage 4 brain cancer, and gave him six to 12 months to live. Doctors recommended chemotherapy and radiation, but Fischer turned it down.

"I sat there and I prayed about it. And I was, like... You know I don't want the last six to twelve months of my life, you now, being that kind of quality where you're sick and you're going through all that," Fischer said.

Looking to a Higher Power:

Fischer is a man of faith who looks to God for guidance. A church friend helped him find a new care team.

The Doctors:

Dr. Joseph Georges and Dr. Peter Nakaji are two Arizona neurosurgeons helping to advance the science, working on the latest treatments for brain cancer, including dendritic cell therapy. In basic terms, it is a cancer vaccine: a personalized treatment that uses a patient's own immune cells to help the body recognize and destroy cancer.

"We really go out to all the resources in the world you know that and look to say what could we possibly offer even if it's not here even if its not with us what can we offer that's you know available right now because that's the battle he's fighting and that's a battle we want to fight with him," Dr. Nakaji said.

Adjusting Plans:

These doctors looked at his scans. They decided to operate and do things a little differently.

"We went over and met with Dr. Nakaji and he was like, you're right. He was like I wouldn't do brain surgery with you again asleep. He was like, but awake, I would do. And I have a feeling that we can get a lot more of this tumor out," Fischer said.

Brain surgery while awake became the plan, and Fischer was excited to get started.

The Procedure:

During the procedure, medical staff checked in: "You good there?"

"Me? Are you good?" Fischer replied.

"Yeah we're good, we're alright," doctors responded.

Fischer's tumor is near the part of the brain that controls speech. During surgery, he continued talking to ensure surgeons removed as much of the tumor as possible without going too far.

"Go ahead and count again 1-10," doctors instructed. 

"1-2-3-4," Fischer counted.

Preserving the Cells:

This is where the personalized treatment plan comes in. Fischer has chosen to preserve his tumor cells for dendritic cell therapy through a company called Immunocine. During surgery, his doctors placed pieces of the tumor inside a special kit. Those samples will be preserved for up to two years in the hopes of creating a unique vaccine to fight the cancer.

"With glioblastoma, historically, we've measured how people in months or years, and I'm really hoping with Kyle that we can measure this in decades and hopefully provide them a very long, productive life," Dr. Georges said.

Beating the Odds:

It has been three and a half years since he was first diagnosed, and Fischer has already beaten the odds. While he waits for this new cancer killer to be created in a lab, he plans to use this time to live as normally as possible. He hopes his story will inspire people to look beyond conventional treatment for cancer and trust in a higher power.

"I want to have children with my wife and just live peacefully out in the country with just kind of everything behind me," Fischer said. "It's faith. Yeah, it's not me, it was God in me."

What's next:

Fischer's surgery went well, and he went home from the hospital the following day. He is still healing and receiving targeted radiation. Soon, the plan is for him to travel to Mexico for his immunotherapy treatment.

There are many clinical trials underway right now looking at dendritic cell therapy. To learn more about the therapy and about Immunocine, click here. 

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