Electric fields therapy has been shown to have promising results in slowing down the growth of glioblastoma — an aggressive and deadly brain tumor, according to research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
In the new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, patients with glioblastoma were administered a new form of treatment called tumor-treating fields (TTFields). Patients received a continuous dose of low-intensity electric fields — which are said to kill cancer cells — via a device equipped with insulated electrodes that are attached to their shaved scalps.
Patients wear this device at all times, except for scheduled breaks and electrode changes. To provide regular doses of electrical fields, the electrodes are connected to a battery-powered device. The device used in the study is called Optune. It is manufactured by Israel-based oncology company Novocure, who also funded this study.
A total of 695 patients took part in the clinical trial — 466 received both TTFields and chemotherapy while 229 received just chemotherapy treatment.
Researchers found that TTFields therapy was successful in slowing down the growth of the brain tumor; thereby increasing recently diagnosed patients' survival rates.
According to the results, those who received TTFields had a median survival time of 20.9 months compared to the 16 months of those who did not receive the electric fields therapy. With TTFields and chemotherapy, 43 percent of glioblastoma patients were found to extend their survival odds by two years.
"This trial establishes a new treatment paradigm that substantially improves the outcome in patients with glioblastoma, and which may have applications in many other forms of cancer," said lead researcher Dr. Roger Stupp, chief of Neuro-oncology in the Department of Neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Based on the results and with further study, electrical fields therapy could be developed as a viable treatment for brain cancer. According to the American Brain Tumor Association, nearly 700,000 people in the United States are living with a primary brain and central nervous system tumor as of January. Glioblastoma makes up 14.9 percent of all primary brain tumors and about 12,390 new cases were predicted to have developed in 2017.
