[01 February 2021] The IBTA’s monthly e-News has been released and has emailed to all subscribers. To sign up to receive your copy, click here.
You can also read the IBTA e-News January 2021 edition in full online here.
Some of the highlights from this month’s round-up:
- The IBTA is delighted to announce that the results of the IBTA’s international survey: ‘Brain tumours and COVID-19: the charity and not-for profit experience‘ have now been published in the journal Neuro-Oncology Advances. This was the first survey completed with the purpose of identifying the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on brain tumour charities and not-for-profit organizations around the world.
- Live streaming of the 19th International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (ISPNO 2020) has successfully finished and is now available for on-demand viewing. The hybrid event was held both in-person on 13 to 16 December 2020 in the Karuizawa Prince Hotel West, Japan, and streamed online. A video digest of a few of the highlights of the event can be viewed online here.
- The European Commission is scheduled to formally launch its ‘Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan’ on 3rd February. The Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is an initiative that aims to reduce the cancer burden for patients, their families and health systems in European Union Member States.
- On World Cancer Day (4th February 2021), the Global Cancer Coalitions Network (GCCN – of which the IBTA is a member) will be hosting its first Coalition Connection event. This interactive session is open to all and will explore the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the global cancer community.
- The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded orphan drug designation to Gleolan (aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride or ALA HCL or 5-ALA) for use in surgery for meningiomas. Gleolan is a ‘dye’ that is selectively taken up by brain tumour cells, and causes cancer cells to fluoresce under blue light. The compound is already US FDA approved for visualisation of malignant tumour tissue in patients with glioma.
- The results of a study published in Nature Cancer suggest that the healing process that follows a brain injury – such as trauma, infection or stroke – could trigger the growth of glioblastoma tumours, when new cells generated to replace those lost to the injury are disrupted by mutations.
- According to other research published in Nature Cancer, glioblastoma tumours can be grouped into four subtypes based on their cells’ core biological activities. They found that approximately one in five glioblastoma tumours fall into a ‘mitochondrial subtype’ with overactive mitochondria (the energy-generating structures inside all cells), making them potentially susceptible to mitochondria-inhibiting drugs, a class of medicines currently subject to clinical trials.
- Past infection with a common food-borne parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, has been linked to increased risk of developing glioma brain tumours, according to a research paper published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology.
- A review article published in the journal Future Medicine has comprehensively appraised existing research on pilocytic astrocytoma in adults, a tumour type more commonly seen in children. The article highlights and summarises the clinical and molecular features of these tumours, as well as their classification, diagnosis and treatment. Read more
- An intensive combination treatment of chemotherapy and immunotherapy may “dramatically improve” survival for patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (a type of blood cancer) whose disease has spread to the brain or spine, according to research published in Lancet Haematology.
- A new study published in Cancer Cell has revealed how a poorly understood gene plays a significant role in the metastasis (spread) of breast cancer to the brain. After comparing the DNA of breast cancer cells with those that had spread to the brain, researchers found that the activity of a gene named YTHDF3 was much higher in the brain metastases.
- Denovo Biopharma has announced that the first patient in its biomarker guided Phase 3 clinical trial of DB102 (enzastaurin) in combination with temozolomide and radiation as first line therapy to treat newly-diagnosed glioblastoma, has received their first dose.
Our monthly e-News highlights items of interest to our international brain tumour community and is emailed to approximately 6,000 recipients. It gives a round-up of the latest research and treatment developments, news about brain tumour patient organisations around the world, and key forthcoming neuro-oncology scientific and patient conferences. You can sign up to receive the e-News every month by registering here.
To see an archive of existing e-News issues, click here.
