This image shows a dense network of blood vessels (red) and nuclei (blue) obtained from mouse brain tissue that was optically cleared to look deeper into the tissue than otherwise possible. The brain’s blood vessels are nearly impermeable, allowing only the passage of key nutrients while blocking that of harmful substances. Unfortunately, this blood-brain barrier (BBB) also excludes most therapeutics. By designing drug-containing nanoparticles that can “hitchhike” across the BBB, researchers hope to finally penetrate the barrier, and deliver life-saving drugs to cancers in the brain. Pictured here is brain tissue before exposure to the experimental nanoparticles.
Image Source: California Institute of Technology, NCI Visuals Online
Adults with glioblastoma (GBM) or gliosarcoma may be eligible to participate in a clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center. GBM and gliosarcomas are fast-growing cancers that begin in the brain, grow rapidly and create pressure within the skull. Symptoms such as headaches and nausea can mimic the symptoms of a stroke, and patients have very few treatment options. GBM and gliosarcoma tumors can suppress the immune system so immune cells cannot work effectively within the brain. Mark Gilbert, M.D., Chief of the Neuro-Oncology Branch, is leading a study to see if this suppression can be reversed with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Cancer cells carry a protein that binds to a protein on T cells, an essential part of the immune system. This binding prevents T cells from attacking cancer cells. Immune checkpoint inhibitors stop these proteins from binding and free T cells to do their job of killing tumor cells. Study participants will receive two immune checkpoint inhibitors: nivolumab and ipilimumab, along with temozolomide. Researchers want to see if activated T cells in circulating blood can make their way to the brain and activate an immune response there.
Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT04817254
NCI Protocol ID: NCI-21-C-0015
Official Title: Association of Peripheral Blood Immunologic Response to Therapeutic Response to Adjuvant Treatment With Immune Checkpoint Inhibition (ICI) in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma or Gliosarcoma
The Center for Cancer Research is NCI’s internal cancer center, a publicly funded organization working to improve the lives of cancer patients by solving important, challenging and neglected problems in cancer research and patient care. Highly trained physician-scientists develop and carry out clinical trials to create the medicines of tomorrow treating patients at the world’s largest dedicated research hospital on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
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