Research News for the Sixth Two Months 2020

This is the sixth article of the project which aims to collect periodically (every two months) the news of research on possible treatments for glioblastoma multiforme. Below is the news that I considered most significant. As for the previous articles of the series, each news will be preceded by the original title with link to the source and followed by a short comment. The criterion by which the news is chosen is for now to include in general only the news related to research in the clinical phase, unless the research potential for the treatment of glioblastoma is truly remarkable.

Alpha-type-1 Polarized Dendritic Cell-based Vaccination in Newly Diagnosed High-grade Glioma: A Phase II Clinical Trial
This is a small study but with remarkable results. One in 3 patients lived at least 6 years. It means that forms of immunotherapy design on vaccines that use dendritic cells or T cells begin to yield important results.

Novocure: A Disruptive Growth Play In Cancer Treatments
This article shows the new results from a large clinical trial of the Optune device. The median of survival is 24.5 months. In addition, new clinical trials are about to start in which the Optune device is combined with other treatments to increase its effectiveness. The combination of treatments will be the key to defeating glioblastoma!

GT Medical Technologies Announces First Patient Treated in Registry Trial of GammaTile Therapy for Brain Tumors 
The GammaTiles have been approved by the FDA. These are radiant devices that are applied at the time of surgery and slowly release radiation into the tumor bed, the area of ​​normal irradiated tissue is reduced compared to traditional radiotherapy. Ask your surgeon if GammaTile treatment is available as it seems like a good idea and there are several ongoing clinical trials.

OncoSynergy Opens Enrollment for Clinical Trial of New Cancer Antibody Therapy, OS2966, in Patients with Recurrent Glioblastoma 
When used, Avastin removes nourishment from the tumor which reacts by escaping and invading the surrounding tissue. This mechanism is driven by the tumor’s expression of integrin Beta 1 (CD29), which signals the cell to move and grow. This drug blocks the Beta 1 integrin in the hope that Avastin will kill the tumor while this treatment blocks the tumor escape mechanism.

TVAX Biomedical announces major advancements in potential Glioblastoma cure          
This company has submitted a pivotal glioblastoma study for FDA approval. TVAX immunotherapy can change the way this cancer is treated as the T cells kill cancer cells including stem cells without the toxicity of current therapies. With initial promising results, TVAX has received fast lane and orphan drug designation by the FDA which should speed clinical trials and commercialization.

Study Shows Typical Cancer-Free Survival Doubled for Recurrent Brain Cancer Patients when KIYATEC’s Test Informed Therapy Selection 
This is a small clinical study but the results are remarkable. Instead of choosing a drug randomly among those available at the time of a recurrence, the tumor cells in the culture are tested on the different drugs and the ones that seem most promising are chosen. This approach has been tested in the past but now the technology has evolved. This is the reference to the clinical study: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03561207. To participate in the study it is necessary not to have undergone the surgery yet, as it is necessary to have the frozen tumor cells to carry out the tests. 

Novocure Announces National Reimbursement in Switzerland for Optune® in Combination With Temozolomide for the Treatment of Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma          
The Optune device is now also available in Switzerland at the expense of the National Health Service! Better late than never. It was approved by the FDA nine years ago. Think that in Italy it is not yet available. It is strange that it is available in different countries around the world, from the United States to China, from Germany, to Austria and now to Switzerland but still not in Italy.

Dexamethasone May Shorten Survival in Patients With Glioblastoma Treated With ICIs
There is growing evidence that corticosteroids can exert harmful effects on immunotherapy for cancer patients. This article describes the adverse effects in the case of immunotherapy treatment with PD-1 / PD-L1 inhibitors.

2020 SNO Annual Meeting – Society for Neuro-Oncologywww.soc-neuro-onc.org
Finally, there were 43 presentations on the Optune device at the annual meeting of the us society of neuro oncology, all with very positive results! 20% of patients are still alive after 15 years. The RESPECT ™ phase 1 clinical trial that uses rhenium nanoliposomes (RNL) and is a new form of internal radiotherapy injected directly into the tumor site, has shown very positive results. A study has shown that Temodar does not give any benefit in the case of anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma with wildtype negative IDH1 / 2 while it gives great advantages in cases of tumors with IDH1 / 2 mutations. It is the first time that it has been heard that Temodar could be useless in many glioblastomas. There was also talk of a micro-environment which has a significant effect on the outcome of therapies and it was reiterated that the combined effect of drugs is essential since the right combination can make a huge difference in the chances of survival.

This is all for this two-month period, and also for this year that will be remembered for the pandemic. These days the new gliobot+ chatbot is finally operational. Try it by selecting the icon at the bottom right or the menu item gliobot+, if it does not provide the answers you expect, remember that it learns and the model is constantly updated with the new information available and also based on the requests you want to make . Best of luck to all those fighting against glioblastoma and their loved ones. I truly hope next year is a year of significant progress in the fight against glioblastoma.