A genetically modified poliovirus therapy shows significantly improved long-term survival for patients with recurrent glioblastoma.
The therapy, developed at Duke Cancer Institute in the US, has a three-year survival rate of 21% in a phase 1 clinical trial. In comparison, just 4% of patients at Duke with the same type of recurring brain tumors were alive at three years when undergoing the standard treatment.
Darell D Bigner, senior study author, said: “Glioblastoma remains a lethal and devastating disease, despite advances in surgical and radiation therapies. There is a tremendous need for fundamentally different approaches. With the survival rates in this early phase of the poliovirus therapy, we are encouraged and eager to continue with the additional studies.”