IBTA
E News December 2011
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Dear Friend
UK Brain Tumour Consortium: The Consortium
has just launched a new website designed to
draw attention to its campaign to improve outcomes for brain tumour patients. The
group consists of the International
Brain Tumour Alliance, Brain Tumour Research, Brain Tumour UK, the Joseph Foote
Trust and the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust. It is focussing on three core ‘asks’ as outlined
in its Manifesto. Furthermore, the Consortium
wants to ensure that by 2014 at least 7.5% of UK adults with primary brain
tumours are enrolled in randomised, controlled clinical trials as part of their
therapy.
New therapy
developments: Celldex advises
that they have officially launched the rindopepimut phase III trial in
patients with EGFRvIII positive glioblastoma. They have sites open in New
York and Florida with several additional sites expected to come on line in the
upcoming weeks. The study is listed here. The company plans to launch a patient-relevant study
specific website in early 2012. There are also plans to recruit trial centres in a number of non-USA
countries which will widen the options for patients in those areas.
Meanwhile, Celldex will use MDxHealth's epigenetic MGMT test for its trial,
as will Professor Ulrich Herrlinger (Bonn) for his Phase III trial of adding
lomustine to the concomitant therapy - known as CeTeG.
NanoTherm: The
German company MagForce has signed a Letter of Intent with the Russian company Delrus for its support for the
regulatory approval of its NanoTherm therapy for use with brain tumours and
other indications. The therapy "enables the targeted therapy of solid
tumours through the intratumoural generation of heat via activation of magnetic
nanoparticles".
Cotara:
According to the Company's website, Peregrine
has requested a meeting with the FDA and in response the Agency has agreed to
provide written feedback on the company's proposed pivotal trial design. Once a
final protocol has been negotiated, Peregrine intends to seek partners both in
the U.S. and internationally to support the development of Cotara for
GBM."
Novocure announced in early December that "prominent neuro-oncologists
at four clinical centers in the U.S. will be the
first to provide access to its Tumor Treating Fields
(TTFields) device, NovoTTF-100A System, for
the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)". The clinicians at the four centres
are Drs Eric T Wong, Jay-Jiguang Zhu, Joseph Landolfi, and Herbert Engelhard. Novocure
hopes soon to train clinicians at a further three sites in the USA.
Accelerate Brain
Cancer Cure (ABC2) has given a
grant
to Regulus Therapeutics to use
microRNA therapeutics to discover chemically modified oligonucleotide
anti-miRs for testing at the Samsung Medical Center in preclinical models that
mimic human brain cancer.
Dr John M
Abrahams,
a neurosurgeon at the Westchester Brain Tumor Program (USA), is experimenting by applying
Avastin directly to the tumour site after surgery for recurrent glioblastoma.
His patients also receive routine chemotherapy.
Meanwhile, in a statement announcing the
approval by Health Canada of the use of the Gliadel Wafer, which
delivers carmustine to the brain tumour site, the
company (Eisai) noted that since 1997 20,000 procedures have been performed
using Gliadel.
EORTC 26082-22081trial: This randomized EORTC phase II trial is studying
radiation therapy together with temsirolimus to see how well it
works when compared with radiation therapy together with temozolomide in
treating patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma having an unmethylated MGMT
gene promotor. The trial includes 108 patients (27 in the UK) in 19 hospitals
in nine countries.
This trial along with the CORE trial (Cilengitide) are
the first trials in high grade glioma limited to a patient group without MGMT
promoter methylation.
ASCO: Dr Clifford A
Hudis will take up the role of
President-elect of ASCO at its meeting in June 2012. ASCO has recently teamed
with the National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) to
create an on-line module on
medulloblastoma.
Electromagnetic
Fields:
The European Commission and the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly
Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) has launched a public
consultation on the request for a new scientific opinion on the potential
health effects of exposure to EMF.
Submissions close on 27 January 2012. One of the terms of reference
covers "the potential adverse
effects of EMF on the nervous system, including neurobehavioural disorders and
on the risk of neoplastic diseases".
Therapeutic
cancer vaccines:
A University of Michigan study of the
correlation between therapeutic cancer vaccine research and cancer mortality
and incidence identified 20 active clinical trials worldwide covering brain
tumours in this area of research. This was from a total of about 230 such clinical
trials targeting 13 different types of cancer.
Familial
brain tumours:
While inherited susceptibility might play a part in glioma the international Gliogene study
(involving centres in the USA, UK, Sweden, Denmark and Israel), led by Dr Melissa
Bondy, analysed the genetic makeup of 75 families where two or more members had
glioma and identified a particular region on chromosome 17 called 17q12-21.3 as
worthy of further study and sequencing. In
the course of its study the group identified 1,000 families worldwide
who are in the unfortunate category of having two or more members with glioma.
Statistics: In an Australian study of
histologically confirmed primary brain tumours diagnosed in the most populous
State (NSW) and adjoining Territory (ACT) during 2000-2008 researchers stated:
"We observed significant increases in incidence rates for GBM,
particularly after 2006, and meningioma with overall incidence rates comparable
to recent US and European data. Incidence trends for Schwannoma, in contrast to
the European experience, were observed to be significantly decreasing, but were
akin to overall Schwannoma incidence rates from the United States."
Yaron
Butterfield:
In an amazing sequence of
events
Canadian scientist Yaron Butterfield who has himself received treatment for a
GBM diagnosed in 2004, was part of the team at the British Columbia Cancer
Agency (Vancouver, Canada) that made detailed studies of genetic aberrations on
oligodendrogliomas and identified a new mutation in a gene called CIC which
appears to be specific to oligodendroglioma brain tumours. Their research suggests "a
functional interaction between CIC mutation, IDH1/2 mutation, and 1p/19q
co-deletion."
IBTA
survey:
More than 600 of our contacts responded to the on-line survey we recently
conducted and provided a useful snapshot of our readers: 39% are brain tumour patients,
family or caregivers (current and former); 34% are Doctors or health workers;
11% scientists or researchers; 2% Pharma employees; and 13% are a diversity of
other categories, including many who are employees of charities or non
governmental organisations. 82% thought the IBTA magazine "Brain
Tumour" was "excellent" or "good". 279 respondents
offered suggestions for the content and style of the 2012 magazine. 81% receive
the E News and 78% look forward to reading it. 80% wanted to read about therapy
and trial developments as their first priority and almost 50% forward the E
News to colleagues, including 10 who forwarded it to groups of 100 or more
people. The overwhelming majority were
happy with the proposed dates of 28 October - 3 November 2012 for the 2012 Awareness
Week, except for the reader who joked that it clashed with the birthdays of two of
her children!
Legal
aspects:
Practising medicine or discussing aspects of it can bring into play all kinds
of legal implications. In the UK a journalist for the Guardian Newspaper, and
Internet blogger Rhys Morgan, found themselves threatened with
libel action
after referring to the work of a brain tumour clinic in the USA. In Australia there has been a case
proceeding
in the Perth District Court concerning a retired oncologist and neurosurgeon
who are being sued because they allegedly did not inform a young man with a
brain tumour and his parents that there were other specialists at the time
(1996) who might be able to remove their son's tumour. In the UK a brain tumour
patient
has been denied a payout of more than 200,000 GBP because his policy was in its
final year and he was diagnosed with a brain tumour four months before his
policy expired. The Company would only pay out if he had notified them of his
terminal condition twelve months before his policy expired. All very well if
you have control over these matters but no one has.
Thank you for your continuing support. We wish all
our readers a pleasant festive season and a successful New Year.
Denis Strangman(Chair
and
Co-Director)
International Brain Tumour Alliance IBTA
www.theibta.org
Kathy Oliver
(Co-Director)
PO Box 244, Tadworth, Surrey
KT20 5WQ, United Kingdom
Tel:+ (44) + (0) + 1737 813872
Fax: + (44) + (0) +1737 812712
Mob: + (44) + (0) + 777 571 2569
The International Brain Tumour Alliance is a not-for-profit, limited liability
company registered in England and Wales, registered number 6031485.
Registered office: Roxburghe House, 273-287 Regent Street, London W1B 2AD,
United Kingdom. All correspondence should be sent to the Co-Directors
address above, not to the registered office.
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