The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting is one of the largest oncology meetings attracting more than 33,000 researchers and medical professionals from around the world.

In addition to hosting an exhibit booth to spread awareness of the American Brain Tumor Association and the resources we offer medical professionals to share with their patients, members of the ABTA team met with constituents and attended a variety of brain tumor research sessions.

Throughout the course of the meeting, more than 300 research studies associated with primary brain tumors and brain metastases were presented. The brain tumor research portfolio spanned basic medical research (cell line studies, animal studies, biochemical, genetic and physiological); clinical research (clinical trials); and epidemiological research (incidence and distribution of the disease). While the ABTA team couldn’t attend all of the research sessions, a couple of themes emerged, including:

• Moving Beyond Tumor Type to Tumor Agnostic Treatment
• The Importance of Brain Tumor Tissue Testing
• Primary Brain Tumor and Brain Metastases Research Updates, including:
  • Larotrectinib Continues to Show Promise in Treating Brain Cancer
  • SurVaxM with Standard Therapy in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma: Phase II Trial Update
  • Barriers to Accrual and Enrollment in Brain Tumor Trials

In addition, the ABTA presented preliminary results of our Metastatic Brain Tumor Initiative patient and caregiver survey.

About Meet Hope Head On 

Because of the generous support from people like you, the ABTA has given over $35 million for brain tumor research. The ABTA’s campaign, “Meet Hope Head On,” created for our 50^th anniversary, is focused on raising $50 million, in part to fund critical brain tumor research. This campaign is vital for continuing the kind of work that led to the recent FDA approval of vorasidenib, a breakthrough treatment for low-grade glioma.