Al's Comment:
It is always great to find out why a treatment fails, and how to make it work better. Novocure now has a system in place where the doctor can shape the field by determining placement of the electrodes to better hit the tumor compared to the first generation of the system
Posted on: 08/29/2015
. Cancer Med. 2015 Aug 26. doi: 10.1002/cam4.519. [Epub ahead of print]
Computed modeling of alternating electric fields therapy for recurrent glioblastoma.
Lok E1, Hua V1,2, Wong ET1,3.
Author information:
1Brain Tumor Center and Neuro-Oncology Unit, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
2Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University, Boston, Massachusetts.
3Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts.
Abstract.
Tumor treating fields (TTFields) are alternating electric fields frequency tuned to 200 kHz for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma. We report a patient treated with TTFields and determined the distribution of TTFields intracranially by computerized simulation using co-registered postgadolinium T1-weighted, T2, and MP RAGE images together with pre-specified conductivity and relative permittivity values for various cerebral structures. The distribution of the electric fields within the brain is inhomogeneous. Higher field intensities were aggregated near the ventricles, particularly at the frontal and occipital horns. The recurred tumor was found distant from the primary glioblastoma and it was located at a site of relatively lower electric field intensity. Future improvement in TTFields treatment may need to take into account the inhomogeneity of the electric field distribution within the brain.
© 2015 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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