Innovative treatment offers hope for deadliest kind of brain cancer
What's the story
Glioblastoma, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer, may have a new potential treatment in immunotherapy. This approach uses the immune system to target cancer cells. Glioblastoma is a naturally occurring tumor that falls under a group of brain tumors called "gliomas," which develop and grow in the brain and spinal cord. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as a grade 4 tumor, one of the most aggressive forms of cancer.
Disease burden
Glioblastoma's impact and current treatment limitations
Glioblastoma impacts an estimated 3,200 people in the UK annually, accounting for a large portion of the 12,700 annual brain and central nervous system tumors. Globally, there are about 3.2 to 4.2 cases per 100,000 people every year, amounting to roughly 150,000 new cases each year worldwide. Existing glioblastoma treatments like surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy often only offer temporary relief as the tumor resists these methods and suppresses immune responses.
Treatment potential
Immunotherapy: A promising avenue for glioblastoma treatment
Immunotherapy is a fast-evolving field with potential applications in a range of diseases. It's already approved for a number of cancers such as melanoma, breast, and lung cancers. In glioblastoma treatment, immunotherapy is a promising yet complicated road, owing to the tumor's highly adaptive nature and different mutations in different brain regions. Recent trials have shown immunotherapy can be safely injected into the cerebrospinal fluid, raising hopes among researchers.
Research hurdles
Challenges and future prospects
Despite its potential, making immunotherapy effective for glioblastoma remains a challenge with funding shortages having previously hindered brain cancer research. However, new initiatives are now attracting researchers from other fields to tackle this issue. Notably, not all cancers respond to immunotherapy and there may be immune-related side effects like organ inflammation. Despite these challenges, the prospects of using immunotherapy in treating glioblastoma remain exciting as interest and investment continue to grow in this field.