Glioblastoma is merciless. It’s the cancer that killed Senators Ted Kennedy and John McCain. It killed President Joe Biden’s son, Beau. The average person with this type of brain tumor won’t live more than a year and a half.
Andrew Brenner, MD, PhD, is a neuro-oncologist at UT Health San Antonio and a professor at the Mays Cancer Center. He says radiation is pretty much the only treatment option for glioblastoma, but you can’t use too much radiation without harming the surrounding brain tissue. That makes it an imperfect tool for the job. But what if you could target the tumor precisely?
“So we designed a custom molecule that can bind liquid radiation, and make it fat soluble,” Brenner said, “So then it enters into these tiny, little fat bubbles called liposomes.
Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology
Chair of Neuro-oncology Research, Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio
Clinical Investigator, Institute for Drug Development
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
They deliver the radiation directly to the tumor using catheters that look like coffee straws.
“So really, what you see is very, very high doses where you put it and then a fast drop off in the areas after it,” Brenner explained.
It destroys the tumor and preserves the brain around it. Brenner's initial study was done in rats, so they could examine their brains afterward.
“When we gave the brains to the pathologist to take a look at, they said, ‘If you tell me there was a tumor there, I have to believe you, but there's really nothing. It's just a hole,'" Brenner shared. "There's no sign of any injury; there's no sign of any tumor.”
The technique is now being studied in humans, who also report that it’s easier on them than standard radiation therapy, where they have to go to a healthcare facility for treatment five days a week, for several weeks.
“With this, they have the catheters placed,” Brenner said. “The next day, they have the infusion, and then they go home, and that's it.”
This is a potential breakthrough in an area of oncology that desperately needs one. The projected lifespan of a glioblastoma patient has only increased by about six months over the last three decades. Brenner hopes this will give people more time.
“I would love a cure. That's obviously aspirational,” Brenner said, “But each patient that I can give an extra month with their children or their grandkids or their spouse or contributing to our planet is important."
"If I can just make people live longer," he concluded, "Then I will take that.”
Science & Medicine is a collaboration between TPR and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio that explores how scientific discovery in San Antonio advances the way medicine is practiced everywhere.
