Society for Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting

John H. Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA, MHSc, discusses results from cohort 1 of the CHECKMATE-143 trial.

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.

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.

Jeffrey J. Raizer, MD, Co-Director, Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute, Professor in Neurology, Ken and Ruth Davee Department, Medicine-Hematology/Oncology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, discusses a study that analyzed the overall survival and toxicity of proton therapy for large-volume re-irradiation for recurrent glioma.

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.

The next-generation ALK inhibitor ceritinib showed clinically significant antitumor activity in patients with ALK-rearranged NSCLC, including those with brain metastases.

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.

The combination of bevacizumab and lomustine showed superior efficacy compared with either agent alone in patients with recurrent glioblastoma, warranting further study.

Roeland GW Verhaak, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Division of Quantitative Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses a study that examined the comprehensive and integrative genomic characterization of diffuse lower grade gliomas.

The combination of radiation therapy with procarbazine, CCNU, and vincristine prolonged OS and PFS compared with radiation therapy alone in grade 2 glioma.

Steven A. Toms, MD, director, neurosurgery, Geisinger Health System, discusses how targeting MEK can be an effective treatment strategy for CNS metastasis.