Gene therapy opens promising alternative in the treatment of primary malignant brain tumors

Gene therapy to protect blood stem cells from chemotherapy allows more intensive treatment of patients with glioblastoma, researchers say. “We developed a strategy to successfully shield the marrow and blood cells and thus patients can now get this drug combination with benzylguanine and temozolomide while the marrow and blood cells are protected and shielded,” Dr….

No Benefit From Dose-Dense Chemo in Glioblastoma

Intensified chemoradiation with temozolomide for newly diagnosed glioblastoma failed to improve survival or slow disease progression, according to results of a randomized trial. Patients randomized to conventional treatment with radiation therapy and temozolomide (Temodar) had a median overall survival (OS) of 16.6 months, whereas patients who received radiation and dose-dense temozolomide had a median survival…

Current Treatment Options in Adult Glioblastoma

a report by Christopher E Pelloski, MD1 and Mark R Gilbert, MD2 1. Assistant Professor, Departments of Radiation Oncology and Pathology; 2. Professor and Deputy Chair, Department of Neuro-oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The purpose of this article is to review the current treatment options for patients with glioblastoma (GBM). The current…

State-of-the-art Therapy for Glioblastoma Multiforme

a report by Henry S Friedman, MD James B Powell Jr Professor of Neuro-oncology, Dukes University Medical Center The treatment of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is conventionally considered to be a palliative venture with no hope of cure. Traditionally, patients are treated with maximal surgical resection based on the premise that, although surgery is…

Glioblastoma Multiforme—Past, Present, and Future

The most common cancer arising from the brain is the glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). It is also the most deadly,1 representing the most aggressive subtype among the gliomas, a collection of tumors including astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas. In 1926, Bailey and Cushing, in describing ‘spongioblastoma multiforme’, the label then used for GBM, noted that: “It is from…