Brain tumors: New therapy surprisingly successful

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Public release date: 6-Mar-2009

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/uob-btn030609.php

Contact: Dr. Ulrich Herrlinger

Ulrich.Herrlinger@...

49-7

University of Bonn

Brain tumors: New therapy surprisingly successful

Patients survived on average one third longer

This release is available in German.

The combination of two drugs produces a critical improvement in the

treatment of certain brain tumours. This has been demonstrated by

researchers at Bonn University working in co-operation with German and

Swiss colleagues in a current study. They treated 39 patients who had

been diagnosed with a so-called gliablastoma. The patients survived on

average 23 months; with the standard therapy the mean would have been

14.6 months. Glioblastomas are the most aggressive and the commonest

brain tumours. Left untreated, they prove fatal within just a few weeks.

The study has been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (doi:

10.1200/JCO.2008.19.2195).

Even today, glioblastomas are untreatable – something which even the new

combination therapy cannot change. Nevertheless, Professor Dr. Ulrich

Herrlinger of Bonn University´s Schwerpunkt Klinische Neuroonkologie

speaks of an outstanding success: " This unusually manifest extension of

the survival time has surprised even us. Our results offer the

opportunity to improve our grip on this aggressive form of cancer. Now,

further investigations involving a larger number of patients are needed

to optimise this therapy. Planning for this is already in hand in Bonn " .

Up to now, doctors have treated glioblastomas using radiotherapy with

concomitant chemotherapy. The " gold standard " for this for the last few

years has been the active agent temozolomide. This is still celebrated

as the most important breakthrough in the treatment of glioblastomas.

The researchers combined this preparation with the drug lomustine. At

the same time, the patients were given radiotherapy. The 39 patients

thus treated survived the tumour for an average of 23.1 months. With the

standard therapy, this time is over one third shorter. Seven patients

even survived for over four years.

Genes decide the Success of the Therapy

It would appear that certain changes in the genotype are critical for

the success of this therapy. " With eleven participants in the study, the

information of one gene had been subjected to a characteristic

modification " , Ulrich Herrlinger declares. " These patients survived on

average a good 34 months. With the other patients, these drugs appeared

to bring no apparent advantage vis-à-vis pure radiotherapy – at least,

not in the dosage we tested. It is possible that a simple gene test

could decide for whom a concomitant chemotherapy might be of benefit " .

One disadvantage of the new method are the side-effects. However, these

mostly occur during the several months of the treatment phase. " After

that they normally disappear completely, and the patients have no

further complaints about them " , Herrlinger stresses.

Working in co-operation with the Life & Brain-Zentrum in Bonn, the search

is now on for more compatible, more effective, drugs. " Amongst other

things, we now want to use cell cultures from original tumours to study

precisely what the preparations we used in the study really effect " , Dr.

Glas, one of the authors of the study, declares.

###

Long-Term Survival of Patients With Glioblastoma Treated With

Radiotherapy and Lomustine Plus Temozolomide. Glas, Caroline

Happold, Johannes Rieger, Dorothee Wiewrodt, Oliver Bähr, Joachim P.

Steinbach, Wolfgang Wick, Rolf-Dieter Kortmann, Guido Reifenberger,

Weller, and Ulrich Herrlinger. Journal of Clinical Oncology,

Februar 2009

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Herrlinger

Leiter des Schwerpunkts Klinische Neuroonkologie

Neurologische Universitätsklinik Bonn

Telefon: 0228/287-19887 oder -15736

E-Mail: Ulrich.Herrlinger@...

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