Novel drug slows down glioma progression

In an international study co-led by UCLA, scientists have shown that a new targeted therapy drug can extend the amount of time people with a subtype of glioma are on treatment without their cancer worsening. The finding suggests a possible new treatment option for people with the slow-growing but deadly brain tumor.

The team found the drug vorasidenib more than doubled progression-free survival in people with recurrent grade 2 glioma with IDH1 and IDH2 mutations. Compared with people who received a placebo, those who took vorasidenib went for nearly 17 more months without their cancer worsening, delaying the time before they needed to begin chemotherapy and radiation.

The study involved 331 people aged 12 and older who had been diagnosed with recurrent grade 2 glioma with the IDH1 and IDH2 mutations and who had undergone brain tumor surgery. From that group, 168 were randomly assigned to receive vorasidenib and 163 received placebos.

Among those who received vorasidenib, the disease did not progress for an average of 27.7 months, significantly longer than the 11.1 months for those who received the placebo. And among those who received vorasidenib, 85.6% went for 18 months before their next treatment, while 83.4% went for 24 months between treatments.

The disease progressed in just 28% of people receiving vorasidenib, compared to 54% of those receiving placebos. And as of September 2022, which was 30 months after the study began, 72% of patients who were in the vorasidenib group were still taking the drug and their disease had not progressed.

Reference:

Dr. Timothy Cloughesy et al,Vorasidenib in IDH1- or IDH2-mutant Low-Grade Glioma,New England Journal of Medicine,