New Drug Delays Progression of Glioma, a Deadly Brain Cancer; Study Is First Clinical Trial Analyzing a Targeted Therapy Drug Specifically Developed to Treat Brain Tumors; Results Published in NEJM

In an international study co-led by UCLA, scientists have shown that a new targeted therapy drug can extend the amount of time people with a subtype of glioma are on treatment without their cancer worsening. The finding suggests a possible new treatment option for people with the slow-growing, but deadly, brain tumor. The team found that the drug vorasidenib more than doubled progression-free survival in people with recurrent grade 2 glioma with IDH1 and IDH2 mutations. Compared with people who received a placebo, those who took vorasidenib went for nearly 17 more months without their cancer worsening, delaying the time before they needed to begin chemotherapy and radiation. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented on June 4, 2023 at the annual meeting of the American Society Clinical Oncology in Chicago. The article is titled “Vorasidenib in IDH1- or IDH2-Mutant Low-Grade Glioma.”