In The News...

  • Dr. David Schiff and colleagues were key researchers in a large national clinical trial that has resulted in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's accelerated approval of the medication bevacizumab, or Avastin, to treat the recurrence of glioblastoma. Story Here...
  • Dr. Jason Sheehan used controlled-released nanoparticles containing chemotherapeutic drugs and non-invasive ultrasound to successfully help treat GBM tumors in mice. Story Here...
  • Drs. James Larner, David Schiff, and Mark Shaffrey were all named in the latest edition of America’s Top Doctors;  all were also listed in the companion America’s Top Doctors for Cancer.
  • Research from the groups of Drs. Roger Abounader, Benjamin Purow, and David Schiff was highlighted at the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research this April.  Dr. Abounader’s lab presented data on microRNA as a therapeutic agent for treating brain tumors as well as a c-Met kinase inhibitor that blocks growth of brain tumors in laboratory animals.  The Purow laboratory has recently found that microRA-326 acts in a negative feedback loop with the oncogenic pathway Notch, is down-regulated in glioblastomas, and may have therapeutic potential against these resistant cancers.  Finally, Dr. Schiff and colleagues reported on preliminary results of their clinical trial of ANG1005 in recurrent gliomas.
  • The Neuro-Oncology program has opened several new clinical trials that build on the exciting results we have seen with inhibitors of angiogenesis that target the VEGF pathway.  These include a phase I trial of the VEGF receptor antagonist CT-322 in newly diagnosed glioblastomas in conjunction with radiation and temozolomide, as well as a phase II trial of the VEGF and c-Met receptor inhibitor XL184 in recurrent glioblastoma.  Both the XL184 trial and the ongoing NCCTG N0572 trial of sorafenib with temsirolimus will allow patients who have previously received anti-VEGF therapy such as bevacizumab. 
  • Dr. Edward Oldfield served as the 2008-9 President of the Society of Neurological Surgery and has been named as Associate Editor of the Journal of Neurosurgery. 
  • Dr. David Schiff was an invited lecturer on the management of low-grade and anaplastic gliomas in Beijing in September 2009.  He chaired an educational session on management of brain metastases at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting and will speak on the same topic at the 2010 annaul meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
  • The laboratory of Dr. James Larner, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, has identified a potential target to increase the potency of radiation therapy against gliomas.  Their work, reported online in the prestigious PloS One journal, found that inhibition of the enzyme PP6 rendered glioblastoma cells much more sensitive to radiation.
  • Dr. Roger Abounader has been invited to join the editorial board of the Journal of Neuro-Oncology.