BRAIN CANCER

Michael Lim, MD, director of Brain Tumor Immunotherapy, associate professor of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses checkpoint inhibitors in glioblastoma.

Targeted Oncology spoke with Andrew S. Chi, MD, PhD, head of Neuro-Oncology at NYU Langone's Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, on recent developments in the treatment paradigm for patients with brain cancer, including his recent study into mutant IDH1 gliomas and the role of the NAD metabolite.

Nicholas A. Butowski, MD, director, Translational Research in Neuro-Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, discusses the eligibility of patients with glioblastoma to receive a convection-enhanced delivery of nanoliposomal irinotecan with real-time imaging.

​Rimas Lukas, MD, director, Medical Neuro-Oncology, co-director, Neurology Medical Student Clerkship Program, The University of Chicago Medical Center, discusses the next steps following a phase I study looking at atezolizumab in glioblastoma.

Single-dose fosaprepitant dimeglumine (Emend for injection) in combination with antiemetic agents has been approved by the FDA for the preventing

Heimberger says the treatment paradigm's future is two-pronged, in that it will consist of both combination therapies that activate the immune system and prevent immunosuppression, as well as understand CT and MRI scans of brain cancer patients.

David Reardon, MD, clinical director, Center for Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses identifying certain characteristics in a patient's brain tumor in order to administer better treatment.

Susan Panullo, MD, director, Neuro-oncology, director, Neurosurgical Radiosurgery, Weill Cornell Brain and Spine Center, discusses the improvement in quality of life in patients with glioblastoma treated with Optune (NovoTTF-100A).

In a new study, researchers investigated the roles of Dicer in replication-associated DNA damage during development. The team chose a model of the developing cerebellum for the study.

Neurosurgeons at UC San Diego Health are making headway in a study of minimally invasive laser treatment of brain tumors focused on improving quality of life for patients who have been diagnosed with glioblastoma.

Building on previous work showing increased NF-kB activity in lung cancers, one research team has recently published a study showing this activity is also enhanced in glioblastoma, one of the most lethal forms of human cancers.

Rindopepimut is the first immunotherapy to have ever shown a survival benefit in brain cancers, specifically glioblastoma, said David Reardon, MD.

Developing safe and effective therapies for malignant brain tumors, specifically glioblastoma, is a challenging-yet-achieveable endeavor pursued by researchers and patients alike.

Optune in conjunction with chemotherapy and/or bevacizumab boosted survival rates in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

Rimas Lukas, MD, director, Medical Neuro-Oncology, co-director, Neurology Medical Student Clerkship Program, The University of Chicago Medical Center, on PD-L1 blockade treatment and its potential in patients with recurrent glioblastoma (GBM).

David Reardon, MD, clinical director, Center for Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, on the need to identify glioblastoma (GBM) patients with the EGFRvIII mutation in their tumor.

A team of scientists from Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute and clinicians from Carilion Clinic may have found a way to increase sensitivity to the front-line chemotherapeutic agent temozolomide (TMZ) in glioblastoma (GBM), even after resistance.

Minesh Mehta, MBChB, talks about the recently FDA-approved Optune used to treat newly diagnosed glioblastoma. The device utilizes alternating electric fields to inhibit tumor cell growth.

Optune (NovoTTF-100A) in combination with adjuvant temozolomide has received FDA approval as a treatment for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme following surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

AstraZeneca’s MedImmune has entered into a licensing agreement and collaboration with Inovio Pharmaceuticals, whereby MedImmune was given exclusive rights to Inovio’s INO-3112 immunotherapy.

An independent data safety and monitoring board has recommended continuation of the phase III ACT IV clinical trial of rindopepimut (Rintega) in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

David Reardon, MD, clinical director, Center for Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and president, Society for Neuro-Oncology, discusses rindopepimut (CDX-110), a synthetic peptide vaccine, and its potential in brain cancer based on the results of the ReACT Trial.

Tumor treating fields (TTFields) significantly and consistently prolonged both progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in a randomized, phase III trial of patients with glioblastoma.

Low-dose bevacizumab combined with lomustine has no significant effect on progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS) compared with standard-dose bevacizumab alone in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, according to results from a randomized phase II study.

A reanalysis of a phase III clinical trial in glioma patients confirms that there is no difference for a radiotherapy-first versus a chemotherapy-first strategy, but there is a major difference in long-term outcomes for molecular stratification independent of treatment.