Amy B. Heimberger, MD, Jean Malnati Miller Professor of Brain Tumor Research, professor of neurological surgery, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern Medicine, discusses the variability of responses in glioblastoma.

Some efficacy signals have been observed with immunotherapy in glioblastoma, says Heimberger. However, it is important to note that survival varies in this disease with some patients benefitting significantly more or less than median projections, Heimberger explains. 

Research efforts have shown that some genetic features could be predictive of survival in patients with glioblastoma, says Heimberger. For example, 

 mutations, which are typically expressed in low-grade gliomas, are present in a subset of glioblastoma, Heimberger says. Patients with stage IV glioblastoma who harbor 

 mutations appear to have improved survival compared with patients who lack the mutation, Heimberger explains. As such, clinical trials in glioblastoma should account for these genetic features to interpret how patients respond to certain therapeutic approaches, concludes Heimberger.

Videos

Amy B. Heimberger, MD, discusses the variability of responses in glioblastoma.  



Dr. Heimberger on the Variability of Responses in Glioblastoma 

Amy B. Heimberger, MD, professor, Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the potential of FGL2 as a multi-modality regulator of tumor-mediated immune suppression in patients with glioblastoma. Heimberger presented on this topic at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology.

There is a lot of excitement surrounding immunotherapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors in glioblastoma, Heimberger says. It’s also understood that the mechanisms that the tumor uses for immunosuppression are very heterogenous. Because of this, Heimberger and her colleagues are researching pathways or mechanisms that deal with more than one mechanism of immune suppression.

FGL2 is a secreted protein that exploits multiple mechanisms of immune suppression to “stay behind” the detection of the immune system, Heimberger says. As FGL2 works on more than just immune checkpoints, Heimberger thinks that it could have a more profound impact for patients and could ultimately help more patients.

Amy B. Heimberger, MD, discusses the potential of FGL2 as a multi-modality regulator of tumor-mediated immune suppression in patients with glioblastoma.

Amy B. Heimberger, MD

Articles

Dr. Heimberger on the Variability of Responses in Glioblastoma

Dr. Heimberger on FGL2 as a Regulator of Tumor-Mediated Immune Suppression