Glioblastoma News and Research

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Glioblastoma is the most aggressive and malignant form of glioma, a type of primary brain cancer. Surgery is often used to treat gliomas, along with radiation. However, since surgery and radiation fail to cure the disease, doctors may turn to additional radiation or chemotherapy. In early stages glioblastoma tumors often grow without symptoms and therefore can become quite large before symptoms arise. When the tumor becomes symptomatic, tumor growth is usually very rapid and is accompanied by altered brain function, and if left untreated the disease becomes lethal. Although primary treatment is often successful in temporarily stopping the progression of the tumor, glioblastomas almost always recur and become lethal.

Research: Smaller radiation fields can effectively treat aggressive brain tumors

New research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center shows that patients suffering from aggressive brain tumors can be effectively treated with smaller radiation fields to spare the rest of the brain and preserve cognition.

11 Jan 2013

Researchers identify 125 genetic components in temozolomide-resistant, GBM-derived cell line

University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) researchers have identified over 125 genetic components in a chemotherapy-resistant, brain tumor-derived cell line, which could offer new hope for drug treatment to destroy the cancer cells.

15 Dec 2012

Pfizer's PD0325901 experimental drug blocks untreatable NF1 tumors

Researchers conducting a preclinical study in mice successfully used targeted molecular therapy to block mostly untreatable nerve tumors that develop in people with the genetic disorder Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1).

11 Dec 2012

Combination of PD-991 and letrozole improves survival in patients with HER2- breast cancer

Pfizer Inc. today announced randomized Phase 2 data that showed PD-0332991 (PD-991) in combination with letrozole significantly extended progression free survival (PFS) compared with letrozole alone in post-menopausal patients with estrogen receptor positive (ER+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-) locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

6 Dec 2012

Natural killer cell response detrimental to glioblastoma virotherapy

For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that the response of natural killer (NK) cells is detrimental to glioblastoma virotherapy, a novel way of treating malignant brain cancer by injecting a virus into the tumor.

5 Dec 2012

Studies explore F-18-FLT PET utility in providing prognostic information for patients with gliomas

In the management of gliomas-or tumors that originate in the brain-precise assessment of tumor grade and the proliferative activity of cells plays a major role in determining the most appropriate treatment and predicting overall survival.

4 Dec 2012

Fn14 gene plays a role in growth and spread of non-small cell lung cancer tumors

Lung cancer researchers at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz., in collaboration with researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute and other institutions, have identified a gene that plays a role in the growth and spread of non-small cell lung cancer tumors, opening the door for potential new treatment options.

30 Nov 2012

Paper illuminates importance of PKM2 in cancer development and progression

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have tracked down a cancer-promoting protein's pathway into the cell nucleus and discovered how, once there, it fires up a glucose metabolism pathway on which brain tumors thrive.

26 Nov 2012

Cancer-killing viruses found safe but less effective than expected

Doctors now use cancer-killing viruses to treat some patients with lethal, fast-growing brain tumors. Clinical trials show that these therapeutic viruses are safe but less effective than expected.

26 Nov 2012

Combination of perifosine and temsirolimus shows promise against malignant glioma

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced that perifosine, its oral AKT inhibitor, combined with temsirolimus ("TEM"), was well tolerated in an investigator driven Phase 1 clinical trial in recurrent or progressive malignant glioma ("MG").

20 Nov 2012

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals completes trans sodium crocetinate Phase I trial on glioblastoma

Diffusion Pharmaceuticals LLC, a biotechnology company developing innovative cancer treatments, today announced that it has successfully completed a Phase I clinical trial of its lead compound trans sodium crocetinate (TSC) in nine patients with newly diagnosed primary brain cancer (glioblastoma or GBM).

19 Nov 2012

Positive results from Genentech Avastin plus temozolomide Phase III study on glioblastoma

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, today announced results from the positive Phase III AVAglio study. The study showed Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with radiation and temozolomide chemotherapy reduced the risk of cancer worsening or death (progression-free survival; PFS) by 36 percent compared to radiation and temozolomide chemotherapy plus placebo>th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology in Washington, D.C.

19 Nov 2012

Repeated surgeries may improve survival for patients with glioblastomas

People who undergo repeated surgeries to remove glioblastomas - the most aggressive and deadliest type of brain tumors - may survive longer than those who have just a one-time operation, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.

2 Nov 2012

CSHL scientists discover new way to specifically target and kill cancer cells

Cancer cells grow fast. That's an essential characteristic of what makes them cancer cells. They've crashed through all the cell-cycle checkpoints and are continuously growing and dividing, far outstripping our normal cells. To do this they need to speed up their metabolism.

1 Nov 2012

Human Gene Therapy articles describe two novel anti-tumor therapies

Targeted T-cells can seek out and destroy tumor cells that carry specific antigen markers. Two novel anti-tumor therapies that take advantage of this T-cell response are described in articles published in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

26 Oct 2012

Glioblastoma multiforme can originate from cortical neurons

Scientists have long believed that glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive type of primary brain tumor, begins in glial cells that make up supportive tissue in the brain or in neural stem cells. In a paper published October 18 in Science Express, however, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that the tumors can originate from other types of differentiated cells in the nervous system, including cortical neurons.

23 Oct 2012

Neuralstem initiates second cohort NSI-189 Phase Ib trial in major depressive disorder

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that it has begun dosing the second cohort of patients in its ongoing Phase Ib to test the safety of NSI-189 in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).

19 Oct 2012

UCI neuro-oncologist to lead DCVax Phase II trial in glioblastoma multiforme

UC Irvine doctors are enrolling patients with the deadly brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme in a clinical trial of a vaccine that may prevent the cancer's return or spread after surgery.

11 Oct 2012

Lilly announces new data from two Phase II ramucirumab trials on NSCLC

Eli Lilly and Company today announced new data from two Phase II ramucirumab (IMC-1121B) trials in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

1 Oct 2012

Elevated c-Myc expression amplifies gene activity in tumor cells of multiple cancer types

For a cancer patient, over-expression of the MYC oncogene is a bad omen. Scientists have long known that in tumor cells, elevated levels of MYC's protein product, c-Myc, are associated with poor clinical outcomes, including increased rates of metastasis, recurrence, and mortality. Yet decades of research producing thousands of scientific papers on the subject have failed to consistently explain precisely how c-Myc exerts its effects across a broad range of cancer types. Until now, that is.

28 Sep 2012