Katja[a]
Wed Apr 30, 2003
The Public Interest Newswire / 510-653-9400
Moffitt Center Neuro-Oncology Study of Wafer Implanted During Surgery Shows Zero Tumor Recurrence
Doctors at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute have found encouraging results in a study of 29 patients with metastatic brain cancer. After receiving the Bis-Chloro-Nitroso-Urea-chemotherapeutic biodegradable implantable polymer (GLIADEL Wafer) during tumor surgery, all patients remained free of tumor at the operative site.
Historically in a group of this size, a tumor recurrence rate of at least 10 percent occurs.
Steven Brem, M.D., leader of Moffitt´s Neuro-Oncology Program, is announcing the findings at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons meeting in San Diego April 26-May 1.
The Moffitt study looked at wafer use for "local control" in the brain to prevent recurrence of metastatic carcinoma of the lung.
The study´s coauthors are Susan Snodgrass, M.D., Frank Vrionis, M.D., James Pearlman, M.D., and Henry Wagner, M.D., of the Radiation-Oncology Program. The study is to be published in Annals of Surgical Oncology.
The brain is a common site for tumor metastasis because chemotherapy may kill cancer cells everywhere but the brain, where the brain´s natural barriers keep out the chemotherapeutic agents.
Each year in the United States, primary brain tumors affect 17,000 new patients. "For this group, a major treatment advance is long overdue," Brem says. "Despite improvements in surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy during the past three decades, adults with the most aggressive of these brain tumors have a median survival of less than one year."
GLIADEL Wafers are half-inch white discs made of a biodegradable polymer that can be implanted into the cavity created when a brain tumor is surgically removed. Slowly dissolving, they release carmustine, delivering chemotherapy directly to the site of a tumor. The implant enables surgeons to target residual tumor cells with higher doses of chemotherapy.
In 2001, the National Cancer Institute awarded Moffitt the status of a Comprehensive Cancer Center in recognition of its excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the country´s leading cancer centers, and is listed in the U.S. News & World Report as one of the Top 10 cancer hospitals in America. Moffitt´s sole mission is to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.
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