In just two and a half years, the MBI reached one of its most important objectives: two new clinical trials were approved of potential treatments for relapsed Group 4 medulloblastoma. Both are led by investigators from the University of Florida and funded by the MBI, Dr. Duane Mitchell and (left) and Dr. Elias Sayour.
Each represents the first human trials of their kind:
Trial 1 – also called MATCHPOINT – attacks tumors in two ways: 1) It trains the patient’s own cells to identify and destroy cancer cells; 2) It uses an additional drug to eliminate the tumor’s defense system. MATCHPOINT has already enrolled its first patient, and plans to admit 12 patients over the next two years.
Trial 2 will test an mRNA vaccine – similar to the COVID-19 vaccine, but more personalized because it uses the patient’s own cells. Nanotechnology is used to create the vaccine. Once injected, the vaccine generates a targeted immune response to destroy tumors.
“Recurrent medulloblastoma, in any form, is fatal,” Dr. Sayour said. “We are here to offer hope that we can make a difference.” “The ultimate goal is to cure children with brain cancer and to see immunotherapy treatments become part of the first-line treatment, perhaps avoiding or decreasing the toxicity of the standard treatments we use today,” Dr. Mitchell added.
You can read the full story about the two trials here:
https://mbi.ufl.edu/2024/06/26/uf-researchers-to-test-novel-treatments-for-medulloblastoma/.
