Neurosurgeon David W. Andrews, MD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, JMC, and his colleagues have already treated three patients, and are hoping to recruit several more. Glioblastoma multiforme afflicts about 6,500 people a year in the United States, and is the most common and deadliest type of brain tumor. Most patients who receive standard treatment surgery and radiation, and sometimes chemotherapy live for only about a year. This is the first time researchers are studying a new treatment for newly diagnosed glioblastomas. Earlier studies were on recurrent tumors, which proved resistant to long-term therapy.
Gene therapy is the treatment of the future for cancer.
The treatment involves inserting a gene derived from a herpes simplex virus into glioblastoma tumor cells. Patients are subsequently given the anti-viral agent, ganciclovir. The combination of the enzyme and virus destroys cancer cells. The treatment has tremendous appeal, Dr. Andrews notes. Biological therapies have shown some promise.