Cormican part of a Canadian first for innovative immunotherapy treatment

Retired nurse and community figure’s memoirs helping to raise funds for Brain Cancer Canada

The day Michael Cormican made Canadian medical history, the city of Lethbridge was in the midst of a heatwave - 37 degrees and the highest temperature on record for July 24 in over 100 years.

When Cormican, a retired community nurse and mental health trailblazer, was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) in February of 2022, his chances of surviving beyond 14 months were low. The life-threatening tumour that had taken up residence in the left hemisphere of his brain was roughly the size of a baseball and of the variants within GBM, his had the worst outcomes. What had started as a screening for dementia, led to the revelation that he was facing one of the deadliest forms of cancer, that receives some of the lowest funding for research. It would have been reasonable for Cormican, who had already battled cancer before, and his family to lose hope. But instead, they got to work researching.

Dr. Aileen Cormican, Michael’s daughter, knew there were options beyond the standard of care offered in Canada, which typically includes surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.

“Often, a lot of it is actually being massively proactive yourself. So once you become diagnosed with cancer, all I can say is do your research, be your own best advocate,” Aileen says.

“We’ve been blessed with the oncologist that we have [Dr. Gloria Roldan Urgoiti]. She’s an immense researcher herself, but you’re your own best advocate, because at the end of the day, it’s your life.

Cormican’s doctors removed the tumour, taking with it roughly one quarter of his brain and he underwent chemotherapy.

Consulting with her colleagues and research papers, Aileen found a trial in the United Kingdom that utilizes immunotherapy.

Her brother David likens the immunotherapy vaccine to a “customized, bespoke brain tumor killing agent,” explaining that by using cells preserved at the time of the tumour’s removal, along with a proprietary blend of aminos and peptides, every time the tumour cells grow, in theory, the vaccine should be able to specifically attack them.

The challenge, though, was that the treatment was still in the trial stages and wasn’t being offered in Canada. Thus, began months of back-and-forth travel between Alberta and London, England, where, under the care of Dr. Paul Mulholland, a renowned expert in brain cancer research, Cormican received the innovative treatment.

In April of 2023, the family made their last trip overseas. With travel becoming increasingly difficult due to the advancement of the illness, they sought out approval from Health Canada’s Special Access Program and have since been granted permission to have the vaccine administered in Canada by Cormican’s physician Dr. Peter Koegler at the Campbell Clinic in Lethbridge.

On a balmy Monday in Lethbridge, after months of intricate planning that involved petitioning the federal government, desperately trying to source an extremely cold freezer to store the vaccine - some of which had already been rented out to NASA, and anxiously tracking a large nitrogen filled cannister that contained what might be the key to future cancer treatment for Canadians as it travelled down the highway, Dr. Koegler gave Cormican the first immunotherapy vaccine for Glioblastoma Multiforme on Canadian soil.

“We’re feeling very fortunate, very blessed to be able to participate. But I know, it’s really important and meaningful for my dad. The fact that he’s able to make this milestone and be around for us and hopefully be able to push the bounds of what’s possible within the Canadian medical system,” David says, explaining that “every day after the initial extraction, there’s just slow marked improvement.”

Though Cormican, who is also a past Lethbridge Legion president and former federal Liberal Party candidate, has lost his ability to write since beginning his treatment, his life’s story is forever preserved in his memoirs. “A Long Way From Tipperary” began as a response to a question from his granddaughter during the pandemic, and evolved into a book that was completed just weeks before he was no longer able to write. The book is available exclusively through Brain Cancer Canada and all proceeds will be donated to the organization in the hopes to helping other families facing the battle against brain cancer.

While it sounds like the plot to a prime-time medical drama, Michael Cormican’s story so far is one that his family hopes will inspire and encourage resilience in others. As his family enjoys their time with him, they hope this medically historic event will open doors for other Canadians. “He still reads the Herald every day, though.” David says. “That’s one thing, that’s a nice little joy of his. Checking the paper and seeing what’s going on.”