The Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of experts who study and treat brain tumors. This year’s theme was Hallmarks of Brain Cancers, and specialists from all over the world came together to share their new ideas and breakthroughs.
To help explain what this means for people with brain tumors and their families, we talked to two leading brain tumor experts: Dr. David Raleigh from the University of California, San Francisco, and Dr. Monica Venere from The Ohio State University. Here’s what they shared about the latest research and how it might help brain tumor patients.
What exciting new treatments or advancements did you learn about that could make a difference for brain tumor patients?
Dr. Raleigh: One big highlight was the phase III STELLAR clinical trial. It tested a new drug for people with grade 3 IDH-mutant astrocytomas, a type of primary brain tumor. The study showed that the drug helped patients live longer and keep the tumor from growing for more time. This study was tricky because the World Health Organization (WHO) changed how they diagnose these tumors during the trial. The researchers added tests to better match treatments to the right patients, which helped make the trial a success.
Dr. Venere: The amount of clinical, translational, preclinical, and basic science advancements that were presented at the meeting was incredible and should give hope to brain tumor patients. The research community continues to come together and share their breadth of expertise to overcome some of the challenges that stand in the way of making advancements for patients. Molecular diagnostics continues to lead to progress in the field because as we learn more on the clinical side on how to better define brain cancer subtypes, it opens opportunities for basic scientists to further our understanding of what biologically drives these individual subtypes.
Did any sessions explore promising therapies, like immunotherapy or personalized treatments that could impact future brain tumor care?
Dr. Raleigh: Immunotherapy is a very exciting area in brain tumor research. At the meeting, some scientists shared how they are using new and old drugs that use the body’s immune system to fight tumors. Others are studying how brain tumors change the way they use energy, which could lead to new ways to treat them.
Dr. Venere: There were numerous presentations pushing the needle forward for immunotherapy approaches for brain tumors, which has not achieved success for brain tumor patients as it has in other tumor types. This is a very active area of research in the field that hopefully will impact future brain tumor care in the near future.
What makes treating brain tumors so hard, and how is research helping?
Dr. Raleigh: Brain tumors grow at very different speeds. Some grow very quickly, like glioblastomas, while others, like oligodendrogliomas, grow slowly. This makes it hard to plan treatments. Also, tumors can change faster than doctors can test new treatments, which is a big challenge. We need studies that follow patients over time to understand how tumors change.
Dr. Venere: Brain tumors are complicated because they can be very different from one another. They also change after treatment in ways we don’t always expect. New tools, like advanced imaging and liquid biopsies, are helping us figure out how tumors respond to treatments. This could help us stay ahead of how tumors adapt.
Was there any early-stage research that gives you hope for future advancements in brain tumor research?
Dr. Raleigh: One exciting study looked at how certain brain tumors, IDH-mutant oligodendrogliomas, behave over many years. The researchers used special tools to study old tumor samples and found how the tumor cells change and grow back after a long time. This research could help us develop better treatments in the future.
Dr. Venere: This is one of the greatest strengths of the meeting. Many of the talks and posters that were presented are not published work and this offers the opportunity for clinicians and researchers with different areas of expertise to connect and collaborate and move ideas into new directions in the hopes of getting these early-stage ideas closer to the clinic.
The SNO Annual Meeting highlights the dedicated efforts of researchers and doctors to discover improved treatments for brain tumors. With so many new discoveries and collaborations, there’s real hope for better care and treatments in the future.