Clinical Trial Awareness Day: Progress in Brain Cancer Research
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Manmeet Ahluwalia, MD, MBA, FASCO, highlights genomic testing as a crucial area of current research with immediate implications for patients with brain cancer.
Manmeet Ahluwalia, MD, MBA, FASCO, chief scientific officer, chief of medical oncology, deputy director, and Fernandez Family endowed chair in cancer research at the Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute, highlights genomic testing as a crucial area of current research with immediate implications for patients with brain cancer.
In an interview with Targeted OncologyTM, Ahluwalia urges community oncologists to order comprehensive genomic profiling for these individuals, as brain tumors can harbor alterations, such as NTRK gene fusions, that are also found in other cancers and have targeted therapies like larotrectinib (Vitrakvi) and entrectinib (Rozlytrek) available. He explains that identifying these alterations allows for personalized treatment approaches beyond standard therapies.
“Genomic testing is extremely important for patients with brain tumors, because then that helps us pick up the right drug for our patients, but also, if there are no good standard-of-care treatments for those patients, we can then offer clinical trials for these patients,” he shares.
In addition, Ahluwalia also emphasizes the importance of clinical research in developing novel treatments for brain cancers. Using glioblastoma as an example, he points out the limited number of therapies that improve survival, underscoring that clinical trials often represent the best treatment option for these patients. He explains the increasing availability of clinical trials not only at academic centers but also within larger community practices, making them more accessible.
“Having access to clinical trials is so much more important for tumors like glioblastoma, where the best way to treat these patients is on a clinical trial, if the patients are eligible,” adds Ahluwalia.
Here, Ahluwalia expresses the importance of both widespread genomic testing to identify patients who may benefit from existing targeted drugs and increased enrollment in clinical trials to advance the field and improve outcomes, particularly for aggressive brain tumors where standard treatments are lacking.
