Dr. Raizer Discusses Proton Therapy for Glioma

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.

Raizer says the study looked at patients who failed bevacizumab or standard therapy. Proton therapy was used in addition to bevacizumab and temozolomide with the idea that re-irradiating the volume might result in less toxicity.

Although the study only enrolled a small number of patients, the data suggest that the approach is relatively beneficial — especially for patients who are refractory to bevacizumab, Raizer says. These patients were surviving between 6 and 7 months when the standard is usually 2 to 3 months. Raizer also stated that this approach showed no additional toxicity for the patients, which is important to maintain the quality of life for these patients. ​

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