US EditionCanadian-U.S. study makes breakthrough in aggressive brain tumour treatment
A Canada-U.S. trial showed focused ultrasound increased glioblastoma median survival from 19 to over 30 months and enabled tumor biomarker detection in blood.
- Published in The Lancet Oncology, the trial followed 34 glioblastoma patients, including 14 treated at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and reported median survival of more than 31 months versus about 19 months.
- Because the blood‑brain barrier blocks more than 98 per cent of drugs, researchers injected microscopic microbubbles and used focused ultrasound to briefly open the barrier so chemotherapy can reach tumour margins.
- Under the study design, the protocol delivered six ultrasound treatments over six months with five days of temozolomide per cycle, comparing outcomes with over 30 matched glioblastoma cases.
- Clinicians noted side effects were minimal and patients on trial largely maintained daily activities despite shaving heads for six ultrasound sessions, while Dr. Nir Lipsman aims to present compelling safety and efficacy data to Health Canada.
- A prototype portable Canadian‑made ultrasound helmet sits in a Sunnybrook lab, with studies that could begin as early as next year enrolling 10 to 20 Canadian patients and tumour markers found in blood within 30 minutes suggesting non‑invasive biopsy potential.
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9 Articles
A team from the University of Maryland has shown, for the first time, that temporarily opening the blood brain barrier using "targeted ultrasounds" allows treatment to penetrate better into the brain of patients with glioblastoma
Focused ultrasound combined with chemotherapy improves survival in glioblastoma patients
Patients with the deadliest form of brain cancer, glioblastoma, who received MRI-guided focused ultrasound with standard-of-care chemotherapy had a nearly 40 percent increase in overall survival in a landmark trial of 34 patients led by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers.
A group of 34 patients with glioblastoma, the most deadly form of brain cancer, who have been treated with innovative therapy combining magnetic resonance-guided ultrasound techniques along with standard chemotherapy, has managed to improve their survival by almost 40%. This clinical trial, led by researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (USA), which for the first time demonstrates a benefit in survival by using focused ult…
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