Tessa Jowell Centres of Excellence for Children: Applications are now open for UK centres treating children with brain tumours.
The Tessa Jowell Centre of Excellence for Children initiative aims to recognise paediatric neuro-oncology centres that provide excellent treatment, care and research activities for children with brain tumours. All NHS paediatric neuro-oncology centres are invited to apply to receive benchmarking data, feedback on areas of strength and improvement and bespoke support to develop and improve gaps in services. Data will be collected on the entire patient pathway, including current research activities and clinical trial opportunities. For more information, contact tash.cornwell@tessajowellbcm.org.
Candel Therapeutics Announces New Data from Ongoing Phase 1 Clinical Trial of CAN-3110 in Recurrent High-Grade Glioma This ongoing phase 1 clinical trial is evaluating the safety and activity of CAN-3110 (herpes simplex virus-1 immunotherapy candidate) in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma who have experienced disease progression following prior treatment with standard of care therapies. Based on historical clinical data, overall survival in this patient population is < 6-9 months. Results demonstrated that CAN-3110 was well tolerated without dose-limiting toxicities and significantly increased the median overall survival rate to 12 months in nine patients from arm B. Researchers are going on to investigate whether multiple doses of CAN-3110 can further increase survival rates for these patients.
Proton Therapy May Improve Cognitive Outcomes in Craniopharyngioma Data from a phase 2 clinical trial revealed that proton therapy did not improve survival outcomes in paediatric and adolescent patients with craniopharyngioma compared with a historical cohort, and severe complication rates were similar. However, the trial, published in Lancet Oncology concluded that cognitive outcomes with proton therapy were improved over photon therapy. (Both proton and photon therapies are examples of radiotherapy). Children and adolescents treated for craniopharyngioma using limited surgery and post-operative proton therapy have a high rate of tumour control and low rate of severe complications. The outcomes achieved with this treatment represent a new benchmark to which other regimens can be compared.
Screening of predicted synergistic multi-target therapies in glioblastoma identifies new treatment strategies Researchers have identified several new treatment strategies for glioblastoma by completing high-throughput drug screening. The study, published in Neuro-Oncology Advances, found an exceptionally strong synergistic interaction between kinase targeting and apoptosis inhibition which is suitable for further clinical evaluation as multi-targeted combination therapy.
Real-world experience with tumour treating fields in newly diagnosed glioblastoma: A survival meta-analysis with systematic review. Researchers conducted a scientific literature search to identify clinical studies evaluating overall survival in adult patients with glioblastoma treated with tumour treating fields therapy (TTFields). The analysis suggests a significant survival benefit with TTFields therapy added to standard radiochemotherapy for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma, and that a 75% usage rate may be meaningful in the real-world setting.