The findings, published in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Oncology, are the results of the first 10 years of an ongoing study begun in 1987. The study follows 180 patients who, following surgery and radiation therapy for their brain tumors, received injections of MAb425, a radioiodinated monoclonal antibody developed at The Wistar Institute. All of the patients were followed for five years or longer.
"These results clearly indicate a dramatic step forward in the treatment of brain tumors," says Brady.
Typically, patients with lower-grade gliomas, or brain tumors, die within 18 to 24 months, according to Brady. Patients with glioblastomas, a more aggressive form of tumor, usually die within 12 to 18 months. Of the 180 patients receiving the MAb425 injections, three patients with high-grade tumors were alive after five years and longer. Of the patients with the less aggressive tumor, eight were alive after five years and longer, and 50 percent of those patients were alive after 56 months.
"It's gratifying to see an antibody discovered in a Wistar laboratory showing such promise in the clinic against difficult-to-treat brain tumors," says Russel E. Kaufman, M.D., director and CEO of The Wistar Institute. "The process of translating basic discoveries into new therapies is often a lengthy and challenging one, but the reward can be profound - the ability to offer longer, healthier lives to patients."
The scientists who develo
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Contact: Franklin Hoke
hoke@wistar.upenn.edu
215-898-3716
The Wistar Institute
16-Dec-2002