Brain tumor
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive (grade IV) and most common form of a malignant brain tumor. Even when aggressive multimodality therapy consisting of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgical excision is used, median survival is only 12–17 months. Standard therapy for glioblastoma multiforme consists of maximal surgical resection of the tumor, followed by radiotherapy between two and four weeks after the surgical procedure to remove the cancer, then by chemotherapy, such as temozolomide. Most patients with glioblastoma take a corticosteroid, typically dexamethasone, during their illness to relieve symptoms. Experimental treatments include targeted therapy, gamma knife radiosurgery, boron neutron capture therapy and gene therapy.
Elisabeth Targ
She was diagnosed with and ultimately died from one of the diseases whose treatment she had been studying, the malignant brain tumour glioblastoma multiforme. Targ's decline and death was watched with great interest by the community of remote healers she worked with, who prayed for her, often arriving at her house to offer their assistance while she was undergoing treatment. Targ died on July 18, 2002 – weeks short of her 41st birthday and after several unsuccessful attempts to treat the cancer with radiation and surgery.