(Newer)
For decades, a deadly type of childhood cancer has eluded the best tools of science. Now doctors have made progress with an unusual treatment: according to the AP, millions of copies of a virus are dropped directly into the brains of children. A dozen children treated this way have lived more than twice as long as similar patients have done in the past, doctors report New England Journal of Medicine. Although most of them eventually died of their disease, there are four that are still alive, a few years after treatment – something that is virtually unheard of in this situation. “This is the first step, a critical step,” said Dr. Gregory Friedman, a pediatric cancer specialist at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, said. ‘Our goal is to improve it’, possibly by trying it when patients are first diagnosed or by combining it with other therapies.
The study covers gliomas, which are responsible for 8% to 10% of brain tumors in children. They are usually treated with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, but they occur frequently. Once that happens, the average survival is just under six months. In such cases, the immune system loses the ability to recognize and attack cancer, so scientists have been looking for ways to make the tumor a fresh target. They turned to the herpes virus, which causes a strong immune system reaction. A Philadelphia company called Treovir developed a treatment by modifying the virus so that it would infect only cancer cells, and through small tubes inserted into the tumors, doctors gave the virus to 12 patients aged 7 to 18 years. Eleven showed evidence in imaging tests or tissue samples. that the treatment works. The median survival was just over a year, more than double what has been seen in the past. As of June – the breakdown point for the analysis of results – four still lived at least 18 months after treatment.
(Read more medical study stories.)