Clinical Trials That Have Changed Practice at The Princess Margaret and Beyond

BRAIN Cancer

Glioblastoma is a malignant brain cancer with no cure. Half of glioblastoma patients are 65 or older. An international study led by Princess Margaret Cancer Centre seems to have found a way to extend survival in older patients.

The six-year trial treated patients with a chemotherapy drug, combined with a short course of radiation therapy. Older patients traditionally get treated with radiation alone. The result was that survival increased by an average of two months, compared to those treated with radiation alone. And for 45 per cent of the study participants, survival time almost doubled – from seven months to 13.5 months.

Dr. Normand Laperriere, Radiation Oncologist, is a Co-Principal Investigator on this trial. He says the results were a long-awaited success.

“This tumour has a long tradition of being a graveyard for innovative remedies. I had reached the point in my career where I didn't think I'd ever have my name on a positive study of this disease. This is a wonderful feeling,” he says.