In a recently published manuscript, Howard Colman, MD, PhD, Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Professor of Neuro-Oncology and co-leader of the Neurologic Cancers Disease Center and the Experimental Therapeutics CCSG program at Huntsman Cancer Institute, identified a potential breakthrough in glioblastoma treatment.
Glioblastoma, or GBM, is an aggressive type of brain cancer. According to Colman, this is the most common type of cancerous brain tumor in adults. Standard treatments include radiation and chemotherapy. Unfortunately, typical GBM tumors are often resistant to these treatments and only respond for a matter of months. Due to the aggressive nature of this cancer, tumors often recur and spread.
“Typically, when patients have a recurrence of GBM, and you put them on a new drug, the tumor only stays in check for one to two months,” says Colman. “We are constantly looking for better treatments and doing clinical trials to try and identify new ways to help our patients with GBM.”
Currently in phase 2, this clinical trial tested the use of two experimental agents for glioblastoma – a novel viral therapy and a drug that activates the immune system. This specific immunotherapy, called a checkpoint inhibitor, blocks proteins made by cancer cells that help them hide from a patient’s own immune system. While immunotherapy uses a patient’s immune system to help fight cancer growth and has been successful in other cancer types, these drugs generally have not been effective when used alone in GBM treatment. This is where the viral therapy comes in.
