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The Musella Foundation funded this experiment! The concept is excellent - the thinking was if Avastin cuts off the blood supply to the tumor, the tumor cells will try to find a new blood supply by migrating towards areas of higher oxygen content. This makes the tumor resistant to Avastin. If you combine Avastin with a drug that stops the invasion, you may prevent the resistance and kill the entire tumor. We funded a prior research project that showed BMP4 has an anti invasion effect so it seemed like a good candidate for this experiment.
Unfortunately, it didn't work out as expected. The Avastin did not increase the invasiveness of the tumor! Since there was no increased invasiveness, the BMP4 didn't have much effect. Since other experiments we funded have shown that Avastin does increase invasiveness in a different mouse model, I think this experiment should be repeated in a few other models and perhaps try a few different anti-invasive drugs.
This is an exciting new treatment. It is a next generation combination targeting 2 pathways:
1. an antiangiogenic drug - which blocks the formation of new blood vessels, which starves the tumor
2. Anti-invasion - so the tumor cells can't spread out looking for a new blood supply.
I mentioned this last week but it just came out as a press release!
From our friends at the Albert Heath Services.
Very Important Article. First the warnings: 1. this is a small study, funded in part by the company that makes the drug. 2. It was not randomized, and there was no control group - they compare to historical cotnrols.. 3. We have seen other treatments do very well in small, selected patients then not do well in large controlled trials.
Having said that, these results are outstanding, doubling the average survival time by using a simple, easily available (but expensive) anti-viral pill. It is probably too soon to say we should try it but I would say it definately needs another trial, and I wouldn't hesitate to enter the trial if I had a gbm.
For more background, read the articles on virtualtrials.com on this concept: Click HERE and here and HERE
This is for low grade tumors - shows that what worked for high grade tumors - combining Temodar with Radiation, also helps low grade brain tumors
From our friends at Monmouth Medical Center
This conference is for anyone interested in brain tumors. It is free, but we require registration since space is limited and we will be providing food! I will be there - if you go - stop by and say hi!
This is an amazing program. It makes an immediate impact on patient's lives. Many times we heard from patients who were going to foergo Temodar during radiation because of the expense. As you know, using Temodar at the time of radiation quadruples the chances of a GBM patient surviving at least 4 years. However, it is very expensive even if you only have to pay 20% some people think twice - especially if they were also just told they will never work again. This removes some pressure at the time most families are under the biggest strain of thier lives.
The program opens and closes as we have funding available. I know people prefer to donate toward research, but consider that this is also an important cause. I set up our donation system so people can designate where we use the donation - for copayments, for research or anywhere needed. Please consider making a donation - or consider adding us to your will - or hosting a fundraiser for us!
There are a few new ways to get treatments approved by the FDA - hopefully the results of the trial will be good enough to convince the FDA to let us get access to this vaccine much sooner than the standard process! I will be at the meeting when they reveal the results - will let you know how it went!
I mentioned this a few weeks ago but this article adds a short video about the vaccine.
This is a friend of mine. Interesting project...
This study looked at a large group of patients and concludes that the approval of Avastin for GBMs has imporved survival!
Boron neutron capture therapy is an old treatment consisting of giving the patient a boron containing drug which concentrates in the tumor, and then shooting neutron beams at it. The neutron beams do not hurt the cells that do not have boron - but in the cells that did take up boron, the neutrons split the boron releasing radioactive particles that kill the cell.
This has been tried before but the problem was fiding a way to get the boron into all of the tumor cells. Years ago we did not have that technology, but now we are much closer! Worth trying again.
This is one of my pet peeves about the USA FDA. This treatment can help surgeons remove more of the tumor safely, and it is approved in
I love the FDA - they understood the need to approve Avastin and the Novocure system even when they only showed a small benefit. Now that they are approved and being used in combinations - they are showing better progress. It is just in cases like this where FDA policy goes against common sense.
From our friends at ABC2 and the Tug McGraw foundation - an interesting fundraiser.
This is excellent news. The combination of Celldex and Avastin seems perfect. Celldex is a vaccine against EGFRvIII - which is a marker found on the worst subtype of GBMs. I have heard rumors (the trial is still ongoing) that even when Celldex patients have a recurrence, usually the recurrence is EGFRvIII negative which gives a much better prognosis and more of a chance for other treatments to work.
Avastin is an antibody against VEGF which is another growth factor. It is possible that a tumor needs one of these 2 growth factors to grow. Blocking them both makes sense
Great news! Temodar is now available as a generic.. should save $$!
