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2 announcements from our good friends at the End Brain Cancer Initiative. I have seen Fran Drescher speak at events like this and she is hilarious!
This is a huge advance, although it is a small study and needs to be validated. The concept of a liquid biopsy is that instead of trying to get tumor tissue directly, you get it from blood, or in this case, cerebral spinal fluid, which is a lot easier than brain surgery. You can usually only get a biopsy once or twice of the actual tumor. In some cases, it is dangerous to do a biopsy at all. However, with a liquid biopsy, you can repeat it over time, and see how the tumor is responding to treatment. We are funding the development of a new drug that targets the exact marker this researcher is testing for. I can envision a day when you do this test, and personalize treatment based on it. Then repeat to see how the tumor is trying to mutate around the drug and be able to change the treatment plan.
It is a good sign that they are allowing the trial to go forward!
It is obvious that a gross total resection helps, and this study quantifies it.
This is a dificult article to interpret. I have met this doctor and we went over his research in detail. The results he showed me were pretty good - but nowhere near claiming to be a cure. It was in line with the vaccine trials here in the USA. Some people do very well - others aren't helped at all. I know of a few people doing well on his vaccine. I also know people who weren't heped by it. We recently started tracking his treatment in our virtual trial project but don't have enough data to make a judegement on it yet.
Interesting trial, but it looks like it will only be available in Austrailia for newly diagnosed gbm
This study shows that Optune should be continued after the first recurrence, and use it in addition to a second line therapy. Patients who had a recurrence and remained on Optune therapy did 31% better than those that discontinued Optune.
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This small study had amazing results. Compared to matched historical controls, median progression free survival was 25.3 months in the vaccine group vs. 8.0 months in the historical control group and median overall survival was 41.1 vs. 19.2 months. Only 1 patient had significant side effects, an allergic reaction to the immune stimulant they used - which was discontinued and she was able to continue on the vaccine.
Disclaimer: I (Al Musella, DPM) am on the patient advisory board at The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center.
This is an exciting trial. Early (small) trials had a few complete responses after a single treatment.
Disclaimer: Medicenna is a sponsor of our organization
Brilliant work. If they are correct, this drug may be able to replace the Vincristine in PCV, making it more effective and much less toxic!
Disclosure: I am on the patient advisory board of the Feinstein Institute.
Results from earlier studies were impressive with " In the subgroup of patients considered inoperable, the chance of survival at two years for those who received TSC was increased by over 100 percent, as 40 percent in the TSC group were alive at two years compared to less than 20 percent in the control. "
I came up with this idea a long time ago but couldn't get it implemented. However, I think the time has come where it is now possible, see the blog for details! Let me know how you feel about it at http://virtualtrials.com/feedback.cfm
Toca 511 is an experimental gene therapy being tested for recurrent glioblastoma. This study shows long lasting immunity - actually a cure - in mice. Even when they tried to inject a new tumor into these mice, the mice rejected the tumor.
I am proud to say that the Musella Foundation has supported the development of this treatment with $130,000 in grants over the last 5 years. Winning the "Most Successful Early Phase Trial" is really impressive when you consider this is across all cancer types, not just brain tumors. Congratulations to Tocagen!
This is the second recent study to suggest that 6 months of Temozolomide might be optimal. However, this was not a randomized prospective trial. I would think each case is different and if things are going well, it may be worth using Temozolomide longer. If not, try something else.
I did not really expect it to do well by itself. I feel that it may be part of a combination approach with other immune therapies. We are funding such a combination trial now!
This is one of my favorites. It may become a drop in replacement for Temodar in patients who have unmethylated MGMT, and it might also do better in other situations.
This is the final results of the Optune trial. Survival rates were 43 percent versus 31 percent at two years; 26 percent versus 16 percent at three years, and 13 percent versus 5 percent at five years. These results are impressive. The survival advantage has improved since the last report as there are now more 5 year survivors. All subgroups of patients had a benefit - methylated or unmethylated, young or old, gross total resection and biopsy only. They also clarified their position of letting every patient who wants to use it get it regardless of ability to pay.
Exciting news- the trial was expanded. We (the Musella Foundation) gave a grant to help with the early development of this new drug!
