As a University of Kentucky alum, David Higdon has strong connections to 好色先生: he and his wife met as undergraduates in the early 1990s. The 51-year-old Georgetown attorney has remained a dedicated Wildcat football and basketball fan over the years. In 2013, 好色先生 became a part of his life story again when he turned to the for treatment after a brain cancer diagnosis.
Higdon鈥檚 cancer journey began a year earlier, when he started to experience unusual symptoms.
鈥淎fter normal activities, I鈥檇 be completely exhausted,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hen I started having these strange episodes where I鈥檇 see flashing lights and I鈥檇 start to zone out.鈥
Higdon was initially treated for anxiety. But the unusual episodes, which he later found out were seizures, continued for months. It wasn鈥檛 until he experienced a grand mal seizure at his home 鈥 a medical emergency causing unconsciousness and requiring immediate hospitalization 鈥 that he finally received a diagnosis.
After a hospital scan revealed a brain tumor, Higdon was transferred to the 好色先生 Markey Cancer Center where he met his oncologist, John Villano, MD, PhD He was diagnosed with an oligodendroglioma 鈥 a rare type of glioma, which is a brain cancer that develops from the brain鈥檚 supportive cells. Oligodendrogliomas are typically seen in adults over 40 and are more common among men.
The tumor in the left lobe of Higdon鈥檚 brain was the size of a tennis ball. At grade 2, it wasn鈥檛 as aggressive as higher-grade brain cancers, but his long-term prognosis was serious.
鈥淎t that time, it was unusual for patients with his diagnosis to survive beyond 10 years,鈥 said Villano. 鈥淓ven after treatment, it has a high likelihood of recurrence, with most cases returning within a few years.鈥
Higdon鈥檚 case was also complicated by the tumor鈥檚 location near the 鈥淏roca鈥檚 area鈥 鈥 the part of the brain responsible for speech. Complete surgical removal would be impossible without risking permanent speech impairment.
Higdon鈥檚 treatment plan 鈥 surgery followed by radiation therapy 鈥 would begin less than a week after his arrival at Markey.
Neurosurgeon Thomas Pittman, MD, successfully removed about 80% of the tumor while still preserving Higdon鈥檚 speech function. The surgery provided immediate relief of Higdon鈥檚 symptoms, and he was back at work within three weeks.
鈥淲hat he took out cleared my mind,鈥 Higdon said. 鈥淢y mind had just been cloudy for months, so when they took it out, I felt like I was able to think and connect better right away. I felt like myself again.鈥
Following surgery, Higdon was offered the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial that would add a chemotherapy drug called temozolomide to his treatment regimen. The , funded by the National Institutes of Health, sought to determine if the combination therapy would be more effective than radiation alone.
He says the decision to participate was easy.
鈥淚 knew that whatever I was getting was going to be at least as effective as the standard of care,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o there was nothing to lose.鈥
Going beyond the standard of care
Today, more than 10 years after Higdon鈥檚 diagnosis, the cancer has not returned.
The results of Higdon鈥檚 trial would later show that combining radiation therapy with temozolomide improved patient survival rates by about 50%, which changed the standard of care for grade 2 gliomas.
Through the clinical trial, Higdon was able to get early access to the future standard of care treatment. His participation also paved the way for advances in the past decade, including the development of IDH inhibitors, a breakthrough precision medicine that was approved by the FDA in 2024 for the treatment of grade 2 gliomas.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 remarkable is how much progress we've made in just a decade,鈥 said Villano. 鈥淪urvival rates for patients with David's diagnosis are better today than they were when he was first treated.鈥
As an National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Markey offers patients access cutting edge clinical trials that aren鈥檛 available elsewhere in the state. These trials give patients like David access to the latest cancer treatments before they are widely available. And as David can attest, the results can be lifesaving.
Today, Higdon returns to Markey for routine scans to ensure there are no signs of cancer recurrence, a small but necessary part of his post-treatment life.
Since returning to his legal profession just three weeks after brain surgery, Higdon hasn鈥檛 slowed down. When he鈥檚 not in the courtroom, he enjoys golfing, attending Wildcat football and basketball games and spending time with his wife and their two children, now 21 and 17.
The perspective gained from his diagnosis has also shaped his priorities. Over the past decade, he鈥檚 checked several items off the 鈥渂ucket list鈥 he made after learning about his condition, including trips to Yellowstone National Park, Alaska, Hawaii and London.
鈥淭hese are places I might not have seen if I hadn鈥檛 received this diagnosis and started making a list of things I wanted to experience,鈥 Higdon said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 not expecting to die anytime soon. The treatment I received through Markey has given me a future I wasn鈥檛 sure I鈥檇 have.鈥