Latest News

• FDA Clears Enhanced MRI-Guided Laser Ablation System        

  Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is a minimally invasive surgical technique that uses laser energy to heat and destroy (ablate) targeted tissue. It has been used in focal epilepsy, brain tumors, and radiation necrosis. The two most commonly used FDA-cleared LITT systems in the U.S. are Visualase and NeuroBlate. The Visualase system just received FDA 510k clearance for its next-generation platform - the Visualase V2 - which includes updates to the system's hardware, software, and workflow. This new version may enhance the precision and usability of LITT and help expand access to this treatment option.

  
  
• Dual-Target CAR T-Cell Therapy Slows Glioblastoma Growth        

  Last year, there was a lot of excitement around CAR T-cell therapy for recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) after a few early trials showed tumors shrinking. Many in the field were cautious, though, because the responses were transient. New results from a Phase 1 dose escalation CAR T trial for recurrent GBM at the University of Pennsylvania are helping to shed light on the potential for this therapy. Using dual-target CAR-T cells designed to hit two proteins found on GBM cells (EGFR and IL13Ra2), researchers saw tumors shrink in 62% of patients (8 of 13) who still had visible disease after surgery. Survival data for all patients treated thus far (n=18) is still accumulating, but several patients in the trial have lived 12 months or longer after receiving treatment, and one patient has had stable disease for over 16 months. The early cohorts in this study received only one CAR T-cell infusion, but future cohorts may receive more than one. There are also plans to investigate this treatment in the newly diagnosed setting. We'll be keeping an eye out for further updates from this study! 

  
  
• Phase II propensity-matched controlled trial evaluating metformin as an adjunct to neoadjuvant, concomitant, and adjuvant temozolomide and hypofractionated accelerated radiotherapy (M-HART) in glioblastoma patients (NCT02780024)        

  An abstract shared recently at the ASCO conference suggests that a new protocol involving the addition of metformin may improve outcomes for patients with newly diagnosed GBM. In this Phase 2 trial in Canada, 50 patients received metformin alongside temozolomide (TMZ) prior to surgery, during an accelerated radiation regimen (60 Gy in 4 weeks), and during 6 cycles of maintenance chemo, and were compared to 50 matched patients who received the standard Stupp protocol. The group treated with the investigational protocol had a significantly longer median survival time - 24.1 months compared to 17.7 months in the standard care group - as well as improved progression-free survival (13.7 months vs 11.0 months). Notably, patients with methylated MGMT tumors who also had a gross total resection saw even more dramatic benefits, with median survival reaching 41.9 months versus 17.8 months in matched controls.  

  
  
• FGFR inhibition as a new therapeutic strategy to sensitize glioblastoma stem cells to tumor treating fields        

  This is interesting preclinical work showing that adding pemigatinib, a FGFR1-3 inhibitor, to tumor-treating fields (TTFields) reduced glioma stem cell (GSC) growth, survival, and clonogenicity in lab models. Adding radiation to the TTFields + pemigatinib combo also appeared to delay DNA damage repair, further enhancing the overall effect in some GSC lines. While this work is still early-stage, it could offer a new angle to overcoming TTFields therapy resistance.