Brain Cancer

Evangelia Razis, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, Hygeia Hospital, Athens, Greece, discusses the importance of molecular targeting for patients with glioblastoma.

Santhosh Upadhyaya, MD, neuro-oncologist, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, discusses radiation therapy for young children under the age of 3 who have ependymoma.

Treatment with the recombinant oncolytic poliovirus PVSRIPO elicited sustained a 2- and 3-year overall survival (OS) rate of 21% (95% CI, 11%-33%) for patients with recurrent grade IV malignant glioblastoma.

Carboxyamidotriazole orotate in combination with temozolomide, with or without radiotherapy, produced positive safety and efficacy results in a phase Ib study of patients with glioblastoma or anaplastic gliomas.

The NCCN has added the combination of TTFields (Optune) and temozolomide (Temodar) to its guidelines for Category 1 treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma following maximal safe resection and completion of radiation therapy.

Investigators are seeking to determine whether the combination of eflornithine with lomustine can improve survival for patients with recurrent anaplastic astrocytoma.

Treatment with the investigational agent DNX-2401 resulted in 20% of a cohort of patients with recurrent malignant glioma surviving more than 3 years from the time of treatment.

Adding tumor-treating fields to temozolomide resulted in improved progression-free survival and overall survival for patients with glioblastoma.

A2-step oncolytic virus has demonstrated promising signals against aggressive forms of brain cancers, including recurrent glioblastoma multiforme and anaplastic astrocytoma, in early clinical studies.

The FDA has granted bevacizumab a full approval for the treatment of adult patients with glioblastoma that progressed following prior therapy.

Immunotherapy has shown promise for treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common primary brain tumor in adults with historically poor prognosis, but experts agree that combination regimens have the greatest potential to achieve durable response.

The FDA approved the first biosimilar for the treatment of cancer. ABP-215 (bevacizumab-awwb; Mvasi), a biosimilar for bevacizumab (Avastin), is indicated for the treatment of colorectal, lung, brain, kidney, and cervical cancers in adult patients.

In an ongoing phase II trial, researchers are investigating several targeted agents for use in the treatment of patients with glioblastoma (GBM).

The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 17-0 to recommend approval for ABP-215, a biosimilar for bevacizumab (Avastin) to treat a range of solid tumors.

Investigators are seeking to determine whether the addition of ABT-414 to concomitant radiotherapy and temozolomide will improve the survival of patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme with EGFR amplification.

Tumor treating fields reduced the risk of death by 37% and overall survival was extended by a median of 5 months for patients with glioblastoma multiforme, in a landmark analysis of the EF-14 trial.

Roger Stupp, MD, professor, Neurological Surgery, and associate director, Strategic Initiatives, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, discusses final results of a randomized, multi-center, phase III trial investigating tumor treating fields (TTFields) added to standard chemotherapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma during the AACR Annual Meeting.

A brain tumor research group at the UW Carbone Cancer Center focuses on biological studies of patient-derived glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) cancer stem cells, combined with analysis of patient-matched serum-cultured GBM and an annotated GBM tissue microarray, to identify clinically relevant biomarkers.