Drs. Duane Mitchell and Elias Sayour of the Cure Group 4 Consortium have received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test two new investigational therapies in pioneering clinical trials for Group 4 medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric malignant brain tumor.
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.
Trial 2 is testing 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.
Drs. Mitchell and Sayour spoke with Michelle Jaffe of the University of Florida: “This treatment will be for children with relapsed Group 4 medulloblastoma,” Dr. Mitchell said. “The initial study is a pilot to confirm safety and feasibility in six patients, and then we hope to expand the trial.”
“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.
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Fotos: University of Florida
