When Cheryl Broyles was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a deadly brain tumor, her goal was to outlive the disease’s 15-month prognosis long enough for the younger of her two toddler sons to reach kindergarten.
That was 22 years ago.
![Cheryl Broyles on a hike smiles and lifts her hand to adjust her cap](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-1-mobile.jpg?h=f0d95172)
![Cheryl Broyles on a hike smiles and lifts her hand to adjust her cap](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-1-sharper.jpg?h=8abcec71)
Broyles’ survival has been the result of luck, tumor location, and cutting-edge treatment and diagnostics.
![Mitch Berger talks on his cell phone in front of a bank of windows at Mission Bay](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-2-mobile.jpg?h=f0d95172)
![Mitch Berger talks on his cell phone in front of a bank of windows at Mission Bay](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-2.jpg?h=c673cd1c)
She’s had multiple recurrences. UC San Francisco neurosurgeon Mitchel Berger has removed most of these using techniques like Gamma Knife surgery, which shoots intense, regionally precise doses of radiation at cancer cells.
![Over Zoom, Cheryl Broyles discusses the results of her MRI while looking at scans of her brain](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-3-mobile.jpg?h=f0d95172)
![Over Zoom, Cheryl Broyles discusses the results of her MRI while looking at scans of her brain](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-3.jpg?h=c673cd1c)
Every three months, Broyles travels from her home in Klamath Falls, Ore., to UCSF’s Parnassus Heights campus, where she has an MRI to monitor tumor status.
![Cheryl Broyles and her partner have a Zoom meeting with neuro-oncologist Nicholas Butowski to discuss her MRI results](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-4-mobile.jpg?h=f0d95172)
![Cheryl Broyles and her partner have a Zoom meeting with neuro-oncologist Nicholas Butowski to discuss her MRI results](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-4.jpg?h=c673cd1c)
Through the years, she’s built a trusting partnership with neuro-oncologist Nicholas Butowski, who at one point recommended no treatment after removing a tumor, “reserving it for later in case we need it.”
![Samples of brain tumor tissue arrayed in a petri dish](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-05/David-Solomon-brain-tumor-tissue-sample-mobile.jpg?h=f0d95172)
![Samples of brain tumor tissue arrayed in a petri dish](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-05/David-Solomon-brain-tumor-tissue-sample.jpg?h=4ffac15b)
“Later” came and a tumor specimen was sequenced using the UCSF 500 Cancer Gene Panel. It identified two potential chemo drugs usually only used for melanoma. Those drugs were credited for keeping her tumors stable.
![Cheryl and her partner embrace while sitting at the edge of a fountain in Golden Gate Park](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-6-mobile.jpg?h=f0d95172)
![Cheryl and her partner embrace while sitting at the edge of a fountain in Golden Gate Park](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-6.jpg?h=2d44e782)
Despite a long journey, the former wildlife biologist doesn’t live from MRI to MRI or even define herself as a patient.
![Cheryl Broyles holds the arm of her partner as they walk along a trail](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-walking-with-partner-mobile.jpg?h=f0d95172)
![Cheryl Broyles holds the arm of her partner as they walk along a trail](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-walking-with-partner.jpg?h=8abcec71)
Since her diagnosis, she and husband Matt have scaled the mighty heights of Mount Whitney, hiked the wild trails of the Pacific Crest Trail and camped in Marble Mountain Wilderness.
Faith in God is her salvation, she says, and the great outdoors gives her strength and inspiration.
![Cheryl and her partner hold hands as they gaze into one another's eyes](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-9-mobile.jpg?h=f0d95172)
![Cheryl and her partner hold hands as they gaze into one another's eyes](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-05/Glioblastoma-Cheryl-Broyles-9.jpg?h=2d44e782)
“As brain tumor survivors say, ‘KOKO.’” [Keep on keeping on]
![An aerial view of the Parnassus campus as it would look with the new hospital](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-10/new-hospital-aerial-parnassus-mount-sutro.jpg?h=4362216e)
UCSF is transforming its Parnassus Heights campus so that patients like Cheryl can continue to benefit from the convergence of world-class research, education, and patient care.