The Research News is moving! From 13th January 2023, the Research News will be retitled Worldwide Research Update and new editions will be located in ‘Our Blog’.
Research:
Cooling glioblastoma to room temperature extends survival in preclinical study Researchers have demonstrated that non-freezing “cytostatic hypothermia”, using temperatures of 20-25°C, cools glioblastoma tumours without harming surrounding healthy tissue. Published in Science Advances, the study implanted devices into two rodent models to induce local cytostatic hypothermia and showed that median survival more than doubled. It is a previously unexplored approach that could provide an additional option to patients with GBM by halting tumour growth.
Implantable Device Zaps Cancer Cells Using Electric Fields Tumour-treating fields (TTFs) interfere with charged molecules involved in cell division, stalling mitosis, and triggering cell death – particularly targeting cancer cells due to their increased division rate. Researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong China have built a chip-sized wireless device they call an ultrasound-powered tumour-treating device (UP-TTD), which can be implanted into the tumour site during surgery supplying the electrical field (TTF) to the tumour site directly without the need for the external equipment usually required for TTFs.
Autonomous rhythmic activity in glioma networks drives brain tumour growth This study, published in Nature, describes how glioblastoma cell networks include a small, plastic population of highly active glioblastoma cells that display rhythmic Ca2+ oscillations and are particularly connected to others. They found that targeting the cells responsible for the autonomous rhythmic activity by selective physical ablation or by genetic or pharmacological interference with the potassium channel KCa3.1 led to a marked reduction of tumour cell viability within the entire network and reduced tumour growth in mice and extended animal survival.
Treatments:
Chimerix Announces Successful Launch of ONC201 Phase 3 ACTION Study at Society for Neuro-Oncology Conference and Provides Operational Update. They reported at the recent Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) conference that two external analyses agreed that glioma patients who received ONC201 experienced a meaningful survival benefit and are launching an ONC201 Phase 3 Action study.
Opportunities:
Save the date. The British Neuro-Oncology Society Annual Meeting is taking place at the University of Manchester in July 2023. The meeting will have a focus on big data, bioinformatics, and genomics in neuro-oncology. Brain Tumour Research is proud to co-sponsor the Young Investigator Award that is presented at this annual event, recognising the young researchers who have made an outstanding contribution to the field of neuro-oncology in the UK.
Date: Wednesday 5th – Friday 7th July 2023 - Save the date.
Location: University of Manchester.
Invitation to tender for BNOS Conferences. Hosts wanted for 2024, 2025 and 2026.
BNOS council is inviting interested oncology departments to tender to host the annual conferences in 2024, 2025 & 2026. They encourage applications from a team based around a neuro-oncology MDT and comprised of relevant stakeholders including clinicians and allied health professionals.
Each conference will take place at the end of June or early July in the respective year and will run for three days from Wednesday to Friday, typically ending after lunch on the Friday.
The successful teams will be supported by a Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) or similar, the BNOS Meetings Secretary and the BNOS Administration team.
Applications should be made in writing by 5 February 2023 and emailed to administrator@bnos.org.uk.The invitation to tender document can be found here.