A new scanning technique developed by Danish and US researchers reveals how susceptible patients with aggressive brain cancer are to the drugs they receive. The research behind the ground-breaking technique has just been published in Nature Medicine.
Each year sees 260 new cases of the most aggressive type of brain cancer in Denmark. Some patients survive only a few months, while others survive for 18 months. Only very few, 3.5%, are alive five years after their diagnosis. A new scanning technique can now reveal how the brain tumour responds to the drug administered:
"We have developed an MRI technique which reveals how a patient will respond to the treatment that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels to the tumour. The technique allows us to only select the patients who will actually benefit from the treatment and to quickly initiate or intensify other treatments for non-responding patients," says Kim Mouridsen, Associate Professor at Aarhus University and head of the research group Neuroimaging Methods at MINDLab, Aarhus University.
He has developed the new technique together with researchers from Harvard Medical School.
Brain architecture providing important knowledge
Aggressive brain cancer is usually treated with drugs that inhibit the growth of new blood vessels, as the most aggressive brain tumours are constantly trying to produce new blood vessels to get oxygen. The treatment alleviates the symptoms, but it also increases the efficacy of radiation therapy because it improves oxygenation.
According to Kim Mouridsen, the new technique – Vessel Architectural Imaging – is an important step towards better treatment:
"Getting more knowledge about what the blood vessels in the tumour look like will also give us a better understanding of the mechanisms which are decisive for the efficacy of the treatment. And understanding these mechanisms is precisely what we need to be able to develop and improve the treatment of brain tumours in general."
Explore further: New MR analysis technique reveals brain tumor response to anti-angiogenesis therapy
More information: Read the scientific article 'Vessel architectural imaging identifies cancer patient responders to anti-angiogenic therapy' here: www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nm.3289.html
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
New MR analysis technique reveals brain tumor response to anti-angiogenesis therapy
Aug 18, 2013
A new way of analyzing data acquired in MR imaging appears to be able to identify whether or not tumors are responding to anti-angiogenesis therapy, information that can help physicians determine the most ...
Nano drug crosses blood-brain tumor barrier, targets brain tumor cells and blood vessels
Jul 17, 2013
(Phys.org) —An experimental drug in early development for aggressive brain tumors can cross the blood-brain tumor barrier and kill tumor cells and block the growth of tumor blood vessels, according to a recent study led ...
Suffocating tumors could lead to new cancer drugs
Jul 26, 2013
Scientists have discovered a new molecule that prevents cancer cells from responding and surviving when starved of oxygen and which could be developed into new treatments for the disease, according to new research published ...
The secret life of 'tweeting' tumours
Jun 21, 2013
(Medical Xpress)—A breakthrough study led by researchers at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI) has revealed how brain tumours communicate with other cells, ...
Scientists develop first snap shot of tiny brain tumours
Mar 27, 2012
(Medical Xpress) -- A new imaging technique may be able to detect cancers that have spread to the brain while they are still small.
Recommended for you
Study finds higher intake of fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of bladder cancer in women
1 minute ago
University of Hawaii Cancer Center Researcher Song-Yi Park, PhD, along with her colleagues, recently discovered that a greater consumption of fruits and vegetables may lower the risk of invasive bladder cancer in women.
Single injection may revolutionize melanoma treatment, Moffitt study shows
7 hours ago
A new study at Moffitt Cancer Center could offer hope to people with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Researchers are investigating whether an injectable known as PV-10 can shrink tumors and reduce the spread ...
Drug used for blood cancers may stop spread of breast cancer cells
15 hours ago
A drug used to treat blood cancers may also stop the spread of invasive breast cancer, researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have discovered. Their study, published online in Breast Cancer Research, found that in the lab an ...
The stress and cancer link: 'Master switch' stress gene enables cancer's spread
18 hours ago
In an unexpected finding, scientists have linked the activation of a stress gene in immune-system cells to the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body.
Foreign-born hispanics have survival advantage in NSCLC
20 hours ago
(HealthDay)—Compared with non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) and U.S.-born Hispanics, foreign-born Hispanics with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a reduced risk of disease-specific mortality, according ...
Study helps explain increased melanoma risk in individuals with red hair
23 hours ago
A person's skin pigment, which determines hair color and skin tone, is influenced by the melanocortin-1 (MC1R) gene receptor. For the population's one to two percent of redheads, a mutation in MC1R accounts for their red ...
User comments
© Medical Xpress 2011-2013, Phys.org network
A new scanning technique developed by Danish and US researchers reveals how susceptible patients with aggressive brain cancer are to the drugs they receive. The research behind the ground-breaking technique has just been published in Nature Medicine.
Each year sees 260 new cases of the most aggressive type of brain cancer in Denmark. Some patients survive only a few months, while others survive for 18 months. Only very few, 3.5%, are alive five years after their diagnosis. A new scanning technique can now reveal how the brain tumour responds to the drug administered:
"We have developed an MRI technique which reveals how a patient will respond to the treatment that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels to the tumour. The technique allows us to only select the patients who will actually benefit from the treatment and to quickly initiate or intensify other treatments for non-responding patients," says Kim Mouridsen, Associate Professor at Aarhus University and head of the research group Neuroimaging Methods at MINDLab, Aarhus University.
He has developed the new technique together with researchers from Harvard Medical School.
Brain architecture providing important knowledge
Aggressive brain cancer is usually treated with drugs that inhibit the growth of new blood vessels, as the most aggressive brain tumours are constantly trying to produce new blood vessels to get oxygen. The treatment alleviates the symptoms, but it also increases the efficacy of radiation therapy because it improves oxygenation.
According to Kim Mouridsen, the new technique – Vessel Architectural Imaging – is an important step towards better treatment:
"Getting more knowledge about what the blood vessels in the tumour look like will also give us a better understanding of the mechanisms which are decisive for the efficacy of the treatment. And understanding these mechanisms is precisely what we need to be able to develop and improve the treatment of brain tumours in general."
Explore further: New MR analysis technique reveals brain tumor response to anti-angiogenesis therapy
More information: Read the scientific article 'Vessel architectural imaging identifies cancer patient responders to anti-angiogenic therapy' here: www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nm.3289.html
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
New MR analysis technique reveals brain tumor response to anti-angiogenesis therapy
Aug 18, 2013
A new way of analyzing data acquired in MR imaging appears to be able to identify whether or not tumors are responding to anti-angiogenesis therapy, information that can help physicians determine the most ...
Nano drug crosses blood-brain tumor barrier, targets brain tumor cells and blood vessels
Jul 17, 2013
(Phys.org) —An experimental drug in early development for aggressive brain tumors can cross the blood-brain tumor barrier and kill tumor cells and block the growth of tumor blood vessels, according to a recent study led ...
Suffocating tumors could lead to new cancer drugs
Jul 26, 2013
Scientists have discovered a new molecule that prevents cancer cells from responding and surviving when starved of oxygen and which could be developed into new treatments for the disease, according to new research published ...
The secret life of 'tweeting' tumours
Jun 21, 2013
(Medical Xpress)—A breakthrough study led by researchers at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI) has revealed how brain tumours communicate with other cells, ...
Scientists develop first snap shot of tiny brain tumours
Mar 27, 2012
(Medical Xpress) -- A new imaging technique may be able to detect cancers that have spread to the brain while they are still small.
Recommended for you
Study finds higher intake of fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of bladder cancer in women
1 minute ago
University of Hawaii Cancer Center Researcher Song-Yi Park, PhD, along with her colleagues, recently discovered that a greater consumption of fruits and vegetables may lower the risk of invasive bladder cancer in women.
Single injection may revolutionize melanoma treatment, Moffitt study shows
7 hours ago
A new study at Moffitt Cancer Center could offer hope to people with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. Researchers are investigating whether an injectable known as PV-10 can shrink tumors and reduce the spread ...
Drug used for blood cancers may stop spread of breast cancer cells
15 hours ago
A drug used to treat blood cancers may also stop the spread of invasive breast cancer, researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have discovered. Their study, published online in Breast Cancer Research, found that in the lab an ...
The stress and cancer link: 'Master switch' stress gene enables cancer's spread
18 hours ago
In an unexpected finding, scientists have linked the activation of a stress gene in immune-system cells to the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body.
Foreign-born hispanics have survival advantage in NSCLC
20 hours ago
(HealthDay)—Compared with non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) and U.S.-born Hispanics, foreign-born Hispanics with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a reduced risk of disease-specific mortality, according ...
Study helps explain increased melanoma risk in individuals with red hair
23 hours ago
A person's skin pigment, which determines hair color and skin tone, is influenced by the melanocortin-1 (MC1R) gene receptor. For the population's one to two percent of redheads, a mutation in MC1R accounts for their red ...
User comments
© Medical Xpress 2011-2013, Phys.org network
0 comments:
Post a Comment