World-first experimental cancer treatment paves way for clinical trial
Source: The University of Sydney, February 2025
A peer-reviewed paper detailing the experimental cancer treatment developed by Professor Georgina Long AO, University of Sydney medical oncologist and Medical Director of the Melanoma Institute Australia, has today been published in Nature Medicine, paving the way for a clinical trial to be conducted by researchers at the Brain Cancer Centre in Melbourne.
The paper details the experimental treatment given to a patient who was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a highly aggressive brain cancer. Professor Long used her expertise in immunotherapy and drew on melanoma science to devise, lead and administer the treatment. It is the first documented use of neoadjuvant triple immunotherapy in glioblastoma, involving a combination of three checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies (drugs that activate the immune system, instructing T-cells to kill tumour cells) administered prior to surgery.
When resected, the tumour treated with immunotherapy showed increased diversity, abundance, and activation of immune cells compared to the tumour prior to receiving immunotherapy. These immune cells may recognise and attack cancer cells: their increased presence may suggest a strong immune response. At the time of final submission of the paper on 9 January 2025, the patient had no clear signs of cancer recurrence after more than 18 months.