Last updated: 7/26/2008

 Gliadel^® Wafer is a unique form of treatment for brain tumors: wafers implanted into the tumor site at the time of surgery that slowly release a chemotherapy. They are (as of 2/26/2003) FDA approved for use at the time of the initial AND subsequent surgeries for malignant glioma (which includes Glioblastoma multiforme and anaplastic astrocytoma)!

• Use of Gliadel (BCNU) Wafer in the Surgical Treatment of Malignant Glioma: A 10-Year Institutional Experience. (Added 7/26/2008)
• Gliadel(R) Wafer Clinical Data Presented at Society for Neuro-Oncology Meeting (added 11/20/2006)
• Phase II Trial of Gliadel Plus O6-Benzylguanine (O6-BG) for Patients With Recurrent Glioblastoma Multiforme (added 6/6/2006)
• Gliadel® wafer in initial surgery for malignant glioma: long-term follow-up of a multicenter controlled trial
• Presents New GLIADEL(R) Wafer Data At The Society For Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting
• Click here for a news segment on Gliadel! (added 9/13/2004)
• Medicare approves new code to pay for Gliadel!
• Click HERE for report on use of Gliadel for metastatic brain tumors!
• Click HERE for announcement of the FDA approval of Gliadel for use at the time of the initial surgery for malignant gliomas!
• Click HERE for the new, updated package insert for Gliadel! (Requires the free PDF reader).
• Full text article on use of Gliadel at time of initial surgery (Note: this is in .pdf format. You may need to download the free reader from HERE) This will open in a new browser window.
• Click HERE for long term results of Gliadel.. the audio clip is Dr. Friedman from The Brain Tumor Center At Duke announcing the results!
• They were approved by the FDA on 9/23/96 and no longer considered experimental.
• The wafers were designed to deliver a chemotherapy drug directly to the area of the brain tumor, bypassing the blood brain barrier.
• They are implanted into the space formed by the removal of tumor at the time of the surgery, and left in. They "dissolve" by themselves eventually - they do not have to be removed.
• They slowly release a drug called BCNU, over a period of about 2-3 weeks.
• BCNU is the "standard" chemotherapy recommended for glioblastomas. It was usually given IV (in the vein), and had serious side effects - severe nausea, vomiting, hair loss, lung problems, depressed blood counts, etc.
• High doses had to be given in order to get enough into the area of the brain tumor.
• Gliadel^® wafers solves those problems by delivering a higher dose of the BCNU to the tumor bed, while not affecting (as much) the rest of the body. Usually, there are none of the side effects associated with IV BCNU.
• Gliadel^® wafers are approved only for recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, but reports of using it at the initial surgery, and for other tumor types, are very encouraging.