Drug for Deadly Brain Tumor Shows Promise

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new drug may help patients with a deadly form of brain cancer. The drug, AZD2171, reduces the size of a brain tumor and improves the effectiveness of other therapeutic techniques, according to he results of a new study.

AZD2171 is a new angiogenesis inhibitor. This type of drug suppresses the growth of blood vessels supplying a tumor. Researchers are testing the drug on patients with glioblastoma -- the most aggressive kind of brain tumor with a very poor prognosis. Average patient survival with a glioblastoma is a little more than a year.

Researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston conducted a study to find out if AZD2171 would help patients with recurrent glioblastomas. The 16 patients in this study underwent chemotherapy and radiation but their tumors were still growing. Patients took a daily oral dose of AZD2171 and underwent regular imaging exams.

Investigators report the tumors began to shrink in most participants within 28 days of taking the drug. They report tumors shrank by 50 percent in half of the patients and by at least 25 percent in three-quarters of the patients. Researchers report it appears the drug also decreased the leakiness of blood vessels around the tumor, possibly making them more susceptible to additional anti-cancer therapies.

Study authors write they are cautiously optimistic this drug will lead to positive outcomes for some patients. They expect the complete results of this study to be available later this year.

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SOURCE: Cancer Cell, 2007;11:83-95