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Glioblastoma Immunotherapy Trial 2019

Dr Paul Mulholland Leads Promising Glioblastoma Immunotherapy Trials

A pioneering trial has opened in Queen Square as part of a rolling programme of clinical trials which aims to bring together the newest drugs and the latest developments in scientific research to investigate a new treatment for glioblastoma, the most common type of brain tumour.

Described as the most important trial for brain cancer in 15 years, the glioblastoma immunotherapy trial will investigate the outcome of new drugs which aim to activate the body’s own immune system to prompt it into fighting against aggressive tumours.  

Trial leader and Queen Square Consultant Medical Oncologist Dr Paul Mulholland said “we have had no new treatment options for patients with glioblastoma for well over a decade.  There is an urgent need for new treatments that improve clinical outcomes and survival rates.”

Almost 11,000 patients are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour each year which reduce life expectancy by on average 20 years – the highest of any cancer.  Conventional treatment is currently a combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy although just 19 percent of adults survive for five years after diagnosis.

However, new methods of immunotherapy involving vaccines and antibodies are emerging with a growing body of evidence to support their use in a number of cancers.

“Great progress has been made with immunotherapy treatments for skin cancer and blood cancers” Dr Mulholland explains, “and when using ipilimumab (a targeted cancer drug which helps the body’s natural defence system) previously in some brain cancer patients, we have seen dramatic and exciting responses.

The vital research, which has been part funded by the National Brain Appeal in Queen Square, will identify those patients who will respond to glioblastoma immunotherapy and the pattern to successful treatments in this devastating disease.

March 1st – 31st 2019 is Brain Tumour Awareness Month.  To provide your support, you can donate to theIPI-Glio Immunotherapy Trial fund at https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/tnba/immunotherapy

If you would like further information about immunotherapy and new treatment for glioblastoma, Dr Mulholland can be contacted via his Queen Square private medical secretary Sharon Sulley by email at ssulley@qsprivatehealthcare.com or by telephone on 020 3448 3781.