New Brain Cancer Treatment is Evaluated

The University of Illinois-Chicago has enrolled the first patient in the United States in a study of a new brain cancer treatment.

The international, multicenter trial will compare the best standard treatments — surgical removal of the tumor, radiotherapy or chemotherapy — with the new, non-invasive therapy that provides alternating electrical fields directly to the surface of the patient’s head.

Following a baseline MRI to determine the location of the tumor, several electrodes are placed on the patient’s head. The electrodes are connected to a medical device with alternating electric fields powered by a portable battery. The patient remains on the portable device for 22 hours a day, indefinitely, while continuing daily activities at home.

Research suggests such electrical fields can rupture the cancer cells as they divide.

In an earlier small-scale study the therapy more than doubled survival for people suffering from glioblastoma multiforme — the most deadly of all intracranial tumors.

The trial will involve 236 patients at 10 U.S. and seven European centers.