Duke’s Poliovirus Therapy Shows Survival Benefit in Early Patients

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ASCO Abstract #2061
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE on Monday, June 6, 2016 
DURHAM, N.C. – An early group of patients who received a modified form of the poliovirus to treat recurrent glioblastoma brain tumors showed survival improvement over historical controls, according to researchers at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke Health.
The findings, which have not been peer reviewed, were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago (ASCO abstract #2061). 
“At the first five dose levels used in the study, infusion of the modified poliovirus therapy appears to have had about a two-month survival advantage when compared to similar, non-study patients treated at our clinic,” said Annick Desjardins, M.D., associate professor of neurology at Duke and the lead author on the abstract. “Notably, a higher proportion of poliovirus patients were alive at 24 and 36 months.”
The poliovirus, which has been modified to eliminate any harmful effects, is attracted to certain receptors that are in abundance on cancer cells. The modified virus homes in on tumor cells, infecting them and igniting an additional immune response.
Desjardins and colleagues reported results of the first 15 patients in the phase one study. Among this early group, the dosage of the therapy was escalated on the premise that increasing the amount of the drug could show great...

Source: DukeHealth.org: Duke Health Features - June 6, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Tags: Duke Medicine Source Type: news