Brain Cancer

There are reasons to suggest that immune checkpoint inhibitors may be successful against central nervous system tumors, including glioblastoma.

The addition of Optune to chemotherapy and/or bevacizumab improved survival in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

David Reardon, MD, discusses updated survival findings from the phase II ReACT trial, which analyzed rindopepimut (CDX-110) plus bevacizumab for the treatment of relapsed glioblastoma.

As immunotherapy begins to be studied across central nervous system tumors it becomes increasingly important for practitioners to understanding the unique adverse event profiles associated with these agents.

Yael Cohen, MD, vice president of Clinical Development at VBL Therapeutics Pharmaceuticals, discusses VB-111, a highly targeted anti-angiogenic agent that is being investigated in several tumor types.

The FDA has approved Optune in combination with adjuvant temozolomide as a treatment for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme following surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

David Piccioni, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Neuroscience and Neuro-Oncology, UC San Diego Health, discusses tumor profiling of brain metastases of patients with non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma.

Blockade of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway is a novel and attractive treatment approach to many cancers, including malignant glioma, because of its potential to restore anti-tumor immunity.

Lenalidomide in combination with rituximab and as maintenance monotherapy is highly active in patients with relapsed/refractory central nervous system non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Jeff Michalski, MD, professor, vice chair of Radiation Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, Siteman Cancer Center explains the importance of minimizing the long-term consequences of radiation.

Daniel J. Brat, MD, PhD, vice chair, Translational Programs, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, director, Cancer Tissue and Pathology Shared Resource, Winship Cancer Institute, discusses genomic characterization of diffuse lower grade gliomas.

Andrew Brenner, MD, PhD, discusses how liposomal encapsulation of radiotherapeutics holds significant promise as a treatment of glioblastoma.

James Battiste, MD, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma department of neurology and researcher at Stephenson Cancer Center, discusses research in glioblastoma (GBM).

Rindopepimut (Rintega) has gained a Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA to treat adult patients with glioblastoma multiforme that test positive for the epidermal growth factor receptor variant.

Immunotherapy's promise as well as its challenges as a treatment for patients with brain cancer was the focus of a plenary session held November 15 at the Society of Neuro-Oncology's (SNO) 2014 Annual Meeting in Miami Beach.

The oncolytic virus Delta-24-RGD can infect, replicate, and kill glioma cells in patients, according to phase I research presented at the 2014 Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) Annual Meeting in Miami.

John F de Groot, MD, nuro-oncologist, MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the efficacy of the novel c-MET inhibitor altiratinib in glioblastoma.

Roger Stupp, MD, Professor of Oncology, University of Zürich; Chairman, Department of Oncology and Cancer Center, University of Zürich Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland, discusses the interim analysis of the EF-14 trial, which compared NovoTTF-100A together with temozolomide versus temozolomide alone in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

Use of the NovoTTF system along with adjuvant temozolomide led to longer progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with glioblastoma.

Nicholas Butowski, MD, associate professor, University of California, San Francisco, neuro-oncologist, UCSF Medical Center, discusses a phase I/II study of dianhydrogalacitol in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

The vaccine rindopepimut appears to help PFS and OS in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor variant III mutation in glioblastoma-a patient group with traditionally poor outcomes.

Martin J. van den Bent, MD, professor, Neuro-Oncology, Erasmus MC-Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, discusses the BELOB trial, which examined bevacizumab versus bevacizumab plus lomustine versus lomustine single agent in recurrent glioblastoma.

David Reardon, MD, clinical director, Center for Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, president, Society for Neuro-Oncology, discusses the ReACT study, which examined the rindopepimut vaccine (CDX-110) plus bevacizumab in patients with relapsed glioblastoma.

The vaccine rindopepimut plus bevacizumab induced tumor regression in a subset of patients with recurrent glioblastoma.