ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Though chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are all utilized to treat glioblastoma, each carries its own risks, potential side effects, and concerns about lasting efficacy. Alpheus Medical is employing an alternative approach using ultrasound that causes diffuse and selective malignant cell death with minimal impact on the patient.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly metastatic brain tumor with a poor survival rate. Only 5% of afflicted patients live longer than five years after diagnosis, and most treatment methods only delay remission for a matter of months. Treatment for glioblastoma multiforme is typically complex, involving photon or proton radiation, temozolomide chemotherapy, and, if possible, resection surgery. Radiation is fairly safe but is generally used to target small areas at a time and has been associated with significant patient side effects including fatigue, nausea, dry mouth, skin or hair changes, and potential loss of hearing, vision, and memory. Chemotherapy shares many of these side effects, plus anemia, peripheral neuropathy, weight loss, and more. Moreover, chemotherapy can rarely achieve sufficient drug concentrations in peritumoral zones past the blood-brain barrier.
