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 2021 edition in full online here.
Some of the highlights from this month’s round-up:
- The fifth edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Central Nervous System (CNS) tumours is now available online. It was built on the 2016 updated fourth edition and the work of the classification consortium to inform molecular and practical approaches to classifying CNS tumours.
- The second episode of “A Brain Tumour and Me” features American neurosurgeon, author and researcher Dr Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa who talks about his remarkable journey from the humblest of beginnings in Mexicali, Mexico to becoming a renowned neurosurgeon and neuroscientist.
- A comprehensive review has been published in the journal Neuro-Oncology describing the current management and future developments of intracranial germ cell tumours (iGCT).
- According to final efficacy and safety analyses of the phase 3 CheckMate 548 study (NCT02667587) that were presented at the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) 2021 Annual Meeting plenary session in Boston, United States, adding nivolumab to the standard of care radiation and temozolomide does not improve survival among patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma.
- In a phase 2 pilot study called “2-THE-TOP” of 25 patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma, researchers found an increase in progression free survival when Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) were combined with pembrolizumab and adjuvant temozolomide. Twelve patients were progression free and 15 were still alive at the time of release of data.
- Results of a “basket” clinical trial published in The Lancet Oncology, investigators found that a combination of two targeted cancer drugs showed “clinically meaningful” activity in patients with glioblastoma that carried a rare genetic mutation.
- A three-year phase 2 trial (“ARISTOCRAT”) will be carried out by researchers at Leeds University in the UK led by professor of clinical oncology and neuro-oncology Dr Susan Short, to determine whether adding Sativex (nabiximols) to standard chemotherapy for recurrent glioblastoma can extend survival.
- In a study presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) 2021 in Boston, USA, researchers from the Neuro-Oncology Branch (NOB) of National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with primary brain tumours faced greater ‘financial toxicity’ and distress.
- The Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN), a multi-institutional brain tumour research programme with funding from the Childhood Cancer Data Initiative of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA, is collecting tumour samples from patients at 26 member institutions all over the world. This programme will support molecular characterization of greater than 3,000 germline samples and more than 1,500 tumour samples across all paediatric brain tumour types that have been collected by CBTN since 2011. This programme will support molecular characterization of greater than 3,000 germline samples and more than 1,500 tumour samples across all paediatric brain tumour types that have been collected by CBTN since 2011.
- The final results of the landmark CheckMate 204 trial were published in The Lancet Oncology on November 10th. In patients with melanoma that has metastasized to the brain, combination treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors nivolumab and ipilimumab showed an improved overall survival.
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.
