Brain Cancer

David A. Reardon, MD, clinical director at the Center for Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the need for a new standard of care in the treatment landscape of glioblastoma multiforme.

It’s not often that oncologists get to be the first to utilize cutting-edge technology.

The concept of using immunotherapies to treat patients with glioblastoma multiforme is gaining ground among researchers who are interested not only in evaluating checkpoint blockade agents that have proved effective in other tumor types but also in exploring novel targets.

Antonio Iavarone, MD, professor of Pathology and Cell Biology and Neurology, Columbia University, Institute for Cancer Genetics, discusses the role of the ID2 protein in patients with malignant brain tumors.

Researchers are hoping that a proposed phase II study exploring use of the Optune system in patients with recurrent grade III malignant glioma will expand the indications for the tumor treating fields (TTFields) device beyond its current FDA-approved use in recurrent grade IV glioblastoma.

Treatment with nivolumab and radiotherapy with or without concurrent temozolomide was well tolerated and showed promising signs of efficacy for patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

The PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab generated durable responses in bevacizumab-naïve patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

Treatment with AG-120 at an established dose of 500 mg induced a stable disease rate of 83% and a minor response rate of 9% for patients with non-enhancing IDH1-mutated glioma.

Daniel O'Connell, MD, University of California at Los Angeles, discusses a phase II trial testing the benefits of tumor treating fields with Optune for bevacizumab-naive patients with grade III malignant glioma.

Updated data from the phase III EF-14 study showed that adding Optune to temozolomide improved overall survival by 4.8 months compared with temozolomide alone in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.

Pembrolizumab had a 6-month progression-free survival rate of 44% and a manageable safety profile for patients with recurrent PD-L1-positive glioblastoma multiforme.

Findings from the phase II trials KEYNOTE-028 of pembrolizumab and MEDI4736 (durvalumab) point to a role for checkpoint inhibitors in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme, based on encouraging efficacy signals and safety data with the two agents.

Combination therapy with ibudilast and temozolomide for glioblastoma multiforme increased apoptosis and prolonged survival by significantly reducing macrophage inhibitory factor and receptor CD74 expression.