New research has opened a possible doorway for treating glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer.
Brain tumors are especially difficult to treat. Part of the reason is that most chemotherapy drugs are blocked by the blood-brain barrier, which controls what can pass from the bloodstream to the brain.
To get around the problem, researchers from Northwestern Medicine used an ultrasound device implanted in the brain to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier, allowing chemotherapy drugs to be delivered to the brain via intravenous injection.
The 4-minute procedure, which takes place while patients are awake, was repeated every few weeks over a 4-month period, for a total of six sessions.
The researchers in the new study reported that the blood-brain barrier closed rapidly after being forced open — typically within 30 to 60 minutes.
The ultrasound device, which uses a stream of microbubbles to open the blood-brain barrier, was developed by the French biotech company Carthera.
These ultrasound devices are designed to create a large opening in the barrier, crucial to increase the efficacy of chemotherapy delivered to a larger region of the brain after tumors are surgically removed.
The same group of researchers is now conducting clinical trials to determine whether delivering paclitaxel and carboplatin across the blood-brain barrier prolongs survival among people with recurring glioblastoma tumors. The two drugs, used in combination, have proven effective in treating other types of cancer.
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