Major breakthrough as cancer patients have chemo for brain tumours for first time
CANCER patients have received chemotherapy in the brain for the first time.
The “huge advance” in treatment temporarily opened the blood-brain barrier, which previously prevented drugs reaching the organ.
Scientists at Northwestern University in Illinois were able to open it in a four-minute procedure, increasing concentrations of the drug in the brain by up to six times.
It could lead to better treatment for devastating glioblastoma, which affects 12,000 Brits a year and claimed the life of The Wanted singer Tom Parker.
Dr Adam Sonabend, who led the study, said the findings could also lead to “treatments for millions of patients” with other brain diseases.
Dr Karen Noble, of Brain Tumour Research, said: “The results from this trial sound hugely encouraging.
“To be able to open the barrier with the patient awake, and for them to be able to go home after a few hours, could be totally game changing.
“Being able to effectively cross the blood brain barrier with new and existing drugs could lead to a revolution in care for brain tumours and for other neurological conditions.”
Brain tumours are the biggest killer in under 40, with 5,300 dying every year.
At least 88,000 Brits are living with a brain tumour currently and the disease cuts life expectancy by 27 years on average.
Patients are normally given brain surgery, where a doctor will remove as much of the tumour as possible.
However, this can be difficult because tumours can have threadlike elements that spread in the brain and surgeons might miss the edges of tumours.
Chemotherapy using the drug temozolomide (TMZ) can be given after surgery to slow the growth of leftover tumour cells.
But most effective chemo drugs used for other cancers do not work because of the blood brain barrier, which shields the organ from them when in the bloodstream.
What are the symptoms of a brain tumour?
The symptoms of a brain tumour vary depending on the exact part of the brain affected.
Common symptoms include:
- headaches
- seizures (fits)
- persistently feeling sick (nausea), being sick (vomiting) and drowsiness
- mental or behavioural changes, such as memory problems or changes in personality
- progressive weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- vision or speech problems
Sometimes you may not have any symptoms to begin with, or they may develop very slowly over time.
Source: The NHS
The new trial, published in the Lancet Oncology, showed how more powerful chemotherapy can reach the brain for the first time.
They used a small device in the skill to send ultrasound waves that opened the barrier for around an hour.
Dr Sonabend said: “There is a critical time window after sonification when the brain is permeable to drugs circulating in the bloodstream.”
Researchers then injected patients with two different powerful chemotherapy drugs, paclitaxel and carboplatin.
Both drugs are stronger than TMZ and are used for other types of cancer.
The ongoing trial will now look at how effective the treatment is in prolonging the patients’ lives.
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Martin Ledwick, Cancer Research UK's head information nurse, said: "If shown to be effective, trials like this could represent an important step towards opening up more treatment options for patients with this type of cancer.
"However, it is important to acknowledge that these trials are small, and it is still too early to tell whether there will be any improvement in treatment outcomes for patients through this approach."