Glioblastoma is the most common and deadly malignant primary brain tumour in adults.
It is very difficult to treat but scientists have uncovered new knowledge that has shed an unprecedented light on our understanding of glioblastoma.
Dr. Sheila Singh is a neurosurgeon, professor and director of McMaster University’s Centre for Discovery in Cancer Research.
Singh says while the same standard of care has been used to treat glioblastoma for over two decades, recent clinical trials are now investigating brand new immunotherapies that leverage the patient's own immune system to fight the tumor.
One of the immunotherapy treatments is a type of vaccine. “Vaccines are good at targeting multiple different targets on a cell surface, which makes it especially promising for glioblastoma,” said Singh.
The second immunotherapy is called chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, often referred to as CAR T-cell therapy.
“T-cells are the soldiers of our immune system and they're known to go into the body and attack infections,” added Singh. “What if you could take a T-cell and program it to go after a target on the surface of a glioblastoma cell? What if you could infuse genetically engineered CAR-T cells back into the patient and those cells can attack the glioblastoma? These are the kind of advances that are happening right now in immunotherapy development for glioblastoma.”
Singh believes these advances will bring a lot of hope for patients in the very near future.
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The information in this video was accurate as of the upload date, 19/07/2023. The information provided in this video is for information purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. For any medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, it is important to consult your health care professional.
18 июл 2023
