[03 November 2020] 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 November 2020 edition in full online here.
Some of the highlights from this month’s round-up:
- The latest edition (Version 3.2020) of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for central nervous system cancers has been published. It provides up-to-date consensus recommendations for the management of primary and metastatic brain tumours in the United States.
- In the wake of devastating disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic across areas of cancer care, the European Cancer Organisation has published ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Care in Europe: The 7-Point Plan to Address the Urgency and Build Back Better’.
- A paper published in the journal World Neurosurgery, has compiled and evaluated existing clinical trial data and case studies which examine the effectiveness of giving chemotherapy before surgery (termed “neoadjuvant therapy”) in “unresectable” gliomas.
- Elderly patients with recurrent high grade glioma receive a similar benefit from repeat radiation therapy as younger patients, according to findings presented at the ASTRO (American Society for Radiation Oncology) Annual Meeting. Researchers looked at outcomes among 118 patients with recurrent high-grade glioma treated with re-irradiation between January 2013 and July 2019.
- Gene-editing technology, known as CRISPR, can modify or alter segments of DNA. Research published in the journal Science Advances involved treating glioblastoma in a mouse model by enclosing a ‘CRISPR/Cas9’ payload within fat-walled nanoparticles measuring less than 80 nanometres, which were themselves designed to attach and fuse only to cancer cells.
- A proof-of-concept study published in Cancer Research has demonstrated the potential value of using personalised drug screens to find the best available treatments for children with medulloblastoma. Based on the theory that each patient’s medulloblastoma will be sensitive to different treatments, the researchers grew a variety of human medulloblastoma tumours in mice.
- A study published in Surgical Oncology looking at the outcomes of patients with a glioblastoma subtype that carries an especially poor prognosis has found that surgically removing some of the tumour (a partial resection) leads to a significantly longer survival than taking a biopsy sample only.
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.
