WHAT: Hear about promising results of an experimental gene therapy to treat the brain cancer killer glioblastoma. A study shows it may be better than the current standard of care. Note: A patient will attend and be available for interviews.
WHEN: 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 1
WHERE: Mabee Conference Room, fourth floor of Grossman Building, Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7979 Wurzbach Road, San Antonio 78229
WHO: CTRC medical oncologist Andrew J. Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in medicine, neurology and neurosurgery at the UT Health Science Center School of Medicine. Dr. Brenner served as principal investigator of a Phase 2 clinical research study that evaluated the gene therapy. Patients who received the therapy lived longer on average than patients receiving the current standard of care. CTRC Director Ian M. Thompson Jr. will introduce Dr. Brenner.
NEED: Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer that kills two-thirds of patients within five years. A patient’s outlook with recurrence of the disease is considered to be weeks or months.
NOTES: Dr. Brenner presented final study results this week at the European Cancer Congress meeting in Vienna, Austria. Phase 2 studies, conducted after first-in-human studies, add detail about the effectiveness and safety of experimental treatments for disease.
The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only four in Texas. A leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) conducts one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in development of cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit www.ctrc.net.