According to a story from pm360online.com, The National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) recently awarded $750,000 to the Global Coalition for Adaptive Research. This cash is slated to go towards the development of the first global adaptive clinical trial for glioblastoma, a rare and highly aggressive type of brain cancer. NBTS is the largest US nonprofit committed to brain tumors.
About Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma is a rare brain cancer. It is also the most aggressive cancer to originate in the brain. It is characterized by its rapid progression and poor response to most treatments. In most cases, the cause of glioblastoma is not known. A small number of cases evolve from another type of tumor called an astrocytoma. Risk factors for glioblastoma include genetic disorders such as Turcot syndrome and neurofibromatosis, exposure to pesticides, smoking, and a career in petroleum refining or rubber manufacture. Symptoms of glioblastoma include personality changes, headaches, memory loss, seizures, vomiting, and nausea; patients may lose consciousness in late stages. Treatment approaches include anticonvulsants, steroids, chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. While a small number of patients can survive for several years, treatment is often ineffective, with the tumor relapsing quickly. The five year survival rate is only three percent. To learn more about glioblastoma, click here.
About The Trial
The trial, called GBM AGILE, is intended to test a potential treatment for glioblastoma but will incorporate methods into its design that will streamline the process of the trial so that it can be completed more quickly. The goal is a more efficient trial design that does not sacrifice scientific integrity. With lethal and aggressive diseases like glioblastoma, time wasted means the loss of more lives that could have potentially been saved.
The trial is intended to work using a learning system that is capable of identifying therapies that could be potentially effective in treating glioblastoma. This is expected to allow multiple drugs, as well as drug combinations, to be tested at the same time. This allows researchers to weed out drugs that have little effect and isolate therapies that display potential efficacy for continued testing.
An international team of 130 physicians helped come up with the idea for the GBM AGILE clinical trial in 2015. The trial is expected to host sites in the US, Australia, Canada, Asia, and Europe.
