Drug combo may help treat brain tumors

DURHAM, Va., Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Brain cancer patients a deadly tumor known as glioblastoma multiforme, GBM, may survive longer with a drug that chokes off a tumor’s blood supply.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center say a combination of the drug bevacizumab -- commonly known as Avastin -- and a standard chemotherapy agent, may increase the amount of time GBM patients can survive without tumor growth.

Lead investigator Dr. James J. Vredenburgh administered a combination of bevacizumab and irinotecan, a standard chemotherapeutic agent, to 35 patients whose GBMs had returned. Each patient had already been treated with a standard therapy regimen, possibly including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

"For this study, we looked at patients whose tumors had returned after initial treatment, and we found that this drug combination could significantly improve outcomes for these people, who are typically given about three to six months to live," Vredenburgh said in a statement. "These results represent tremendous hope for these patients and their families."

The findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.