In the first study of three recurrent glioblastoma patients treated with CAR T-cell drugs, researchers discovered strong results, with one 72-year-old man's brain tumor shrinking by 60% within two months.
Glioblastomas are malignant grade 4 brain tumors, and they can be difficult to treat, according to the American Brain Tumor Association. Each year, more than 12,000 glioblastomas are diagnosed in the U.S., accounting for 14% of all primary brain tumors.
Three patients were given an experimental CARv3-TEAM-E T-cell medicine that works to target the epidermal growth factor receptor variant III and a wild-type EGFR protein.
"Radiographic tumor regression was dramatic and rapid, occurring within days after receipt of a single intraventricular infusion, but the responses were transient in two of the three participants," the researchers said.
The 72-year-old patient's tumor shrunk by 18.5% in two days. The research logged five months, and no adverse events greater than grade 3 or dose-limiting toxic effects were reported.
The findings were published March 13 in The New England Journal of Medicine. On the same day, a separate published study using a CAR-T therapy among six patients with advanced glioblastoma also found diminished tumors. Neither study's results can be deemed a response, but the early research hints at safety and efficacy potential.