Edward Waldner was 55 when he felt constantly tired. He could not shake the fatigue, no matter how much he rested. He also noticed his heels sometimes dragged when he walked.
One day his symptoms got much worse, so he went to the emergency room. Doctors found a lump in his brain and sent him to a cancer specialist. The lump was glioblastoma, a fast‑growing and often fatal brain tumor.
Typical treatment for glioblastoma includes surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Even with these steps, the cancer often comes back.
Testing Vitamin B3 as a New Treatment
Scientists at the University of Calgary are studying whether large doses of vitamin B3 (niacin) can help standard glioblastoma therapy work better. Waldner agreed to join the study.
"I want to help others and myself," he said. "Being in the research gives me hope after doctors told me there was little else to do."
The trial is led by Dr. Gloria Roldan Urgoiti, a brain‑cancer doctor, and Dr. Wee Yong, a neuroscientist who studies how the immune system works in the brain.
In early lab work with mice, niacin helped the animals live longer. This encouraged the team to start a Phase I/II trial in people.
Boosting the Immune System
Glioblastoma can weaken the body’s immune defenses. Niacin appears to revive immune cells so they can attack tumor cells again. Dr. Yong describes it as a “battle for the brain.”
The trial’s goal was to find the safest high dose of controlled‑release niacin and see if it improves outcomes when added to chemo‑radiation. Researchers set a benchmark: if six‑month progression‑free survival did not rise by at least 20 % compared with past data, the study would stop.
After treating 24 participants, 82 % showed no disease progression at six months – a 28 % improvement over earlier results. The early data are encouraging for a cancer that rarely has a cure.
Promising Early Results
"Glioblastoma has been the toughest adult brain cancer for decades," said Dr. Roldan Urgoiti. "Any safe method that might help deserves careful testing."
The findings were published in the Journal of Neuro‑Oncology. Researchers warn that very high vitamin doses can be toxic if not supervised by doctors.
The study will keep enrolling patients, aiming for 48 participants by the end of 2026 or early 2027. Waldner now feels well and his latest scans are simply described as "stable" by his medical team.
The project receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Alberta Cancer Foundation.