MRI-guided brain cancer breakthrough – exclusive interview

Editor's Choice Main Category: MRI / PET / Ultrasound Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology Article Date: 08 Aug 2013 - 10:00 PDT

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Neurosurgeons from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have conducted the first real-time MRI-guided gene therapy for patients with brain cancer, advancing the clinical trial of new cancer drug, Toca 511.

The new treatment, carried out by neurosurgeons at the UCSD School of Medicine and the UCSD Moores Cancer Center, uses real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a way of guiding the delivery of the new gene therapy directly into brain tumors.

MRI navigational technology, called Clearpoint, enables the neurosurgeons to inject Toca 511 (vocimagene amiretrorepvec) directly into a brain tumor.

Following our earlier news story Brain cancer: groundbreaking MRI-guided gene therapy, Clark Chen, chief of stereotactic and radiosurgery and vice chairman of neurosurgery at the University of California, San Diego, has spoken exclusively to Medical News Today about how the MRI-guided gene therapy works, and what this means for the future of brain cancer treatment.

Previous efforts with gene therapy for brain cancer were largely limited by the inability to deliver the drug into the brain. Under normal conditions, the brain is protected by a physiological system called the blood-brain barrier.

Unfortunately, this natural defense mechanism also prevents drugs from reaching the cancer cells in brain tumor patients. It is estimated that less than 1% of all available drugs will cross the blood brain barrier.

We by-passed the blood brain barrier by directly injecting the gene therapy into the region of the tumor.

To ensure that the adequate amount of agent is delivered to the region of the tumor, we utilized a state-of-the art MRI technology to monitor the delivery and injection processes in real time.

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MRI-guided brain cancer breakthrough - exclusive interview