Treatments
New Analyses from Pivotal Phase 3 INDIGO Study Reinforce Vorasidenib's Potential to Change the Treatment Paradigm for IDH-Mutant Diffuse Glioma. New data from Servier's clinical development program for vorasidenib in IDH-mutant diffuse glioma, presented at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) in Vancouver, Canada, showed that vorasidenib reduced tumour growth as measured by a blinded independent radiology committee. Additional data from the INDIGO study that was presented at SNO included health-related quality of life data, indicating patients receiving vorasidenib experience preservation of quality of life, stable neurocognitive function, and seizure control, as well as translational data demonstrating vorasidenib's efficacy across IDH-mutant diffuse gliomas with various additional mutations. Read more here.
Research
Oxaloacetate as a Holy Grail Adjunctive Treatment in Gliomas: A Revisit to Metabolic Pathway. Gliomas present a significant challenge in oncology due to their rapid progression and resistance to conventional therapies. Recent research has concentrated on understanding the metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells, including glioma. Oxaloacetate (OAA) has emerged as a promising molecule due to its potential to hinder glioma progression when used in conjunction with standard chemotherapy. This review, published in Cureus, analyses the mechanism of OAA in glioma and suggests that further preclinical and clinical investigations are warranted to validate the potential of OAA as a glioma treatment strategy.
Can Gene Expression Predict if a Brain Tumour Is Likely To Grow Back? Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for meningioma, the most common primary intracranial tumour, but improvements are needed in the assessment of meningioma risk and indications for postoperative radiotherapy. To address this, researchers have developed a way to predict the best treatment for patients based on patterns of gene expression - which genes are turned on and off - in their tumours. Based on the gene-expression test, the research team found that just 1 in 5 patients with low-grade tumours (those less likely to regrow) may need radiation, while around 2 in 5 with higher-grade tumours may be better off without radiation. Published in Nature Medicine.
Opportunities
Focused Ultrasound Foundation Launches Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. The Foundation has launched a new fellowship initiative to help postdoctoral researchers transition into faculty positions. The initiative, called the Postdoctoral Fellowship in Focused Ultrasound, will award $30,000 per year to two postdoctoral researchers employed at institutions around the world. Further details are:
- Early-career researchers who have recently obtained a PhD are eligible to apply.
- Each Fellow will design and propose a focused ultrasound research project.
- The deadline to apply is January 7th 2024, and recipients will be notified in early March.
All questions and applications should be directed to Chrit Moonen, PhD, the Foundation’s scientific programs director.
PhD opportunity at the University of Leeds in Dr Lucy Stead’s Lab investigating GBM. Application deadline, Sunday 17th December 2023.
Title: Curing brain cancer one cell at a time: spatial, single cell transcriptomic analysis of glioblastoma brain tumour treatment response.
More information here.