Return to Main Menu

MUSC helps pioneer successful anti-cancer technique Proxima Therapeutics Inc. announced encouraging results of a post-market study on the GliaSite Radiation Therapy System for treatment of recurrent brain cancer Oct. 19.  “MUSC helped pioneer the technique and did the first trials with infusing drugs into the tumors,” said Sunil Patel, M.D., an MUSC neurosurgeon. Details from this multi-center, retrospective study in which MUSC participated were discussed at the Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) in San Francisco, Oct. 16-21. The presentation, “GliaSite Radiotherapy System for Treatment of Recurrent Malignant Glioma: A Multi-Institutional Analysis,” was presented by neurosurgeon Abhay Sanan, M.D., of the University of Arizona.  In this study, patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme had a median survival of 36 weeks, in comparison to studies that found median survival of 20 weeks when the patient population is treated with surgery alone, or a median survival of 28 weeks when treated with surgery and internal chemotherapy. The standard treatment for malignant brain tumors has been surgery followed by whole brain radiation therapy. The radiation, externally administered during the course of six weeks, destroys tumor tissue that cannot be eradicated with surgery and kills cancer cells that may remain after surgery.  However, most malignant brain tumors recur within a short period of time, and a second course of whole brain radiation therapy is rarely an option due to the high risk of damage to healthy brain tissue. GliaSite provides a localized form of internal radiation therapy, which is safe and proven for patients who have historically had very few options. “GliaSite is especially important to patients with recurrent brain cancer—it allows them to receive additional radiation therapy, because external beam radiation is rarely an option due to the risk of further harm to healthy brain tissue,” said Sanan, co-author of the study. “This study revealed encouraging results with the GliaSite balloon, which are consistent with previously reported data of the GliaSite system. For these patients, being able to prolong life by several months is quite remarkable.” GliaSite was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2001 for delivering radiation therapy directly to the site of a tumor, from within the tumor cavity. With the safety and performance of GliaSite proven in a multi-center clinical study, the post-market study looks specifically at GliaSite as an initial treatment for patients with metastatic tumors following the surgical removal of the tumor. surgery (as soon as three days later), a solution containing Iotrex, a proprietary liquid radiation source specifically designed to treat patients with malignant tumors, is injected into the catheter and fills the balloon. Iotrex delivers radiation to the edges of the tumor cavity, targeting tissue where cancer may remain. The Iotrex remains in the balloon for approximately three to seven days, until the prescribed amount of radiation is delivered. The Iotrex mixture is then withdrawn and the GliaSite catheter is removed. GliaSite is currently available in more than 150 centers throughout the country. Physicians and patients who would like information about GliaSite should visit http://www.GLIASITE.com.   Friday, Oct. 28, 2004 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.