Dr. Ricardo Komotar has performed over 7,000 brain tumor surgeries. He serves as Director of the University of Miami Brain Tumor Initiative, Director of the UM Neurosurgery Residency Program, and Director of the UM Surgical Neurooncology Fellowship Program. In addition to all that, he runs a podcast! On a recent episode, he talked with Al about the Promising Pathway Act and how it will speed up the search for a cure for brain cancer. 

This new investigational device uses ultra-low radiofrequency energy to deliver oscillating magnetic fields. It significantly reduced tumor size in mice injected with U87 MG or GL261 glioma cells in their flanks. While still very early in the development process, we hope to see more preclinical research on this device.

Some countries have been slow to adopt tumor treating fields for GBM due to cost. This analysis affirmed that incorporating TTFields alongside standard TMZ treatment was cost-effective from the health system perspective in China.  

Interesting article. It was surprising to see that only a small percentage of Medicare patients use temodar.

This is a fun party event down in Cape Coral Florida on May 4, 2024 starting at 4pm.  Proceeds go to us (The Musella Foundation) for brain tumor research!
There is a band, food trucks, raffles, and an auction!

We featured this investigational oncolytic viral treatment in our SNO 2023 abstract highlights. Over 50 patients have now been treated with a single dose of CAN-3110 in the Phase 1b trial, and investigators have reported a near doubling of survival for recurrent high grade glioma (~12 months versus historical reports of 6 to 9 months). The next arm of this study will investigate use of up to six intra-tumoral  injections of CAN-3110 over a four month period. We'll be watching this trial closely!

This model incorporated mutational and copy number aberration data to simulate personalized GBM tumor response and generate efficacy predictions for radiation and TMZ. The model worked well to predict radiation therapy response but was not as robust for TMZ. Interestingly, among the model's predictions of the 3 best combo therapies for each patient (n=98), only 2.4% (7 of 294) of 2-drug combo recommendations included TMZ. This study further emphasizes the need for personalized precision treatment in GBM.

This is a FREE webinar hosted by the AANS/CNS section on tumors in collaboration with EANO, EANS, and SNO. It starts at 4pm EST tomorrow (April 2) and will cover medical treatment, radiation options, and neurosurgical approaches for low-grade gliomas. 

Washinton State's HCA has denied coverage for Tumor Treating Fields, preventing access to this treatment option for Washington Medicaid patients and state employees. Our friends at the End Brain Cancer Initiative are working on a campaign to request that the HCA revisit and reverse this decision. To everyone in Washington State, please send the advocacy letter available on EBCI's website.

We'll be working on a similar project soon for the state of NY and will ask for your help when it's ready! 

Researchers used data from the French national data health data system for 18,061 women who underwent intracranial meningioma surgery from 2009-2018, and compared them to matched controls. After controlling for confounding factors, they found increased risk of meningioma associated with prolonged use (a year or more) of the following hormone drugs: 2.7 fold increased risk with promegestone; 4.1-fold increased risk with medrogestone, and; 5.6-fold increased risk with medroxyprogesterone acetate. We can't draw definitive conclusions from an observational study, but this is still important information for women weighing oral contraceptive and hormone replacement therapy options.

This new Phase 1 sonodynamic therapy trial for recurrent GBM is sponsored by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation and will leverage the NaviFUS neuronavigation-guided focused ultrasound system together with 5-ALA. The trial is being conducted at University of Virginia Health System and plans to enroll up to 11 patients. 

Patients in the TTFields group had median time to intracranial progression of 21.9 months versus 11.3 months for the control group. While this result is positive, preliminary analyses of secondary endpoints (time to neurocognitive failure, overall survival, and radiologic response rate) did not demonstrate statistical significance. Analysis of additional secondary endpoints (quality of life and time to distant progression) are ongoing and will be shared in a future publication.

This multicenter, retrospective study in Alberta, Canada showed a significant increase in Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia events with generic TMZ as compared to the brand name TMZ. The results of this study prompted Alberta neuro-oncologists to stop prescribing the generic and revert back to name brand. If you are a brain tumor patient experiencing bone marrow toxicity with generic TMZ, ask your NO about switching to the name brand (Merck).

Hiltonol (aka Poly-ICLC) is an immunomodulator being developed for solid tumors and other infectious diseases. By mimicking a virus, it stimulates a broad immune response, and it may have potential to boost efficacy of anticancer dendritic cell and peptide vaccines. We're keeping a close watch on several active glioma trials testing Hiltonol as a vaccine adjuvant! 

More news coverage for the Promising Pathway Act. The bill currently has 19 cosponsors and strong bipartisan support in the Senate. Once it passes the Senate, we'll need help rallying support in the House of Representatives. Please continue to call and email your House Representatives!

This paper looks at the difference in outcome between doing a biopsy first, then followed by a resection of the tumor against just removing the tumor without doing the biopsy as a separate procedure first. There was a pretty big advantage to skipping the separate biopsy step.

 This is a free contest, but you can also donate to our organization!   There is a $1,000 prize!

 The conclusion by the authors in the article is that this is a promising treatment, however they reported fairly average results:  for recurrent glioblastoma, the median OS was 7.9 months ([95% confidence interval (CI) 6.5-9.2 months] and the median PFS was 2.6 months (95% CI 2.3-2.9 months).

  We have run out of funding and the copay program will remain closed to new and renewal application until we get enough donations to the program to reopen.  Of course, we will continue to pay claims for those that have an active grant!  For those of you who need help with Temozolomide, try costplusdrugs.com  They sell temozolomide for about 10% of the cost of most pharmacies. 

Gallium maltolate is an experimental treatment for brain tumors that is showing early promise. The Musella Foundation recently gave them a grant to help start an expanded access program for the drug. Watch the webinar for details!