Not what we hoped to hear

Lenore and I went back to Bethesda last week for another followup visit at the NeuroOncology Branch of NIH's National Cancer Institute.  Unfortunately, my Thursday MRI revealed new tumor growth so the original Temodar chemotherapy treatment is not having the desired effect. This was not entirely unexpected since glioblastoma tends to recur but it was still very disappointing.

I will need to make a decision about what to do next within a few days.  There are two main options.  The first, an IV-delivered drug called Avastin, targets a primary pathway (VEGF) tumors use to hijack a blood supply.  The second, is a phase II clinical trial of a drug call Sutent (Sunitinib malate) which targets multiple pathways tumors use to capture a blood supply.  Sutent has been used successfully in kidney and gastro-intestinal cancers and early results with brain tumors have been encouraging,  Both Avastin and Sutent are what are called anti-angiogenesis drugs (or angiogenesis inhibitors).  At the moment, I am leaning toward the Sutent though it sounds like it might have somewhat worse side-effects.  More soon. /dps