Researchers have revealed a new blood test that can determine whether brain cancer therapies are being effective. The diagnostic tool could guide glioblastoma physicians on whether to maintain current drug regimens, change medications, or halt interventions altogether. Adam Sonabend, a Northwestern Medicine neurosurgeon who co-directed a study published in Nature Communications, explained that using this test, treatment effectiveness becomes apparent after a single dose instead of months of waiting.
This represents a major advancement for glioblastoma care. It could spare patients from continuing regimens that don’t work while eliminating needless adverse reactions that diminish quality of life. Glioblastoma is typically lethal and claims most victims within 24 months.
Since the tumors penetrate brain structures and make total surgical extraction incredibly difficult, only one tenth of glioblastoma patients survive five years after diagnosis. Standard anti-cancer compounds struggle to penetrate the blood-brain barrier to eliminate tumor traces left after surgery, allowing glioblastomas to grow even after treatment.
Northwestern’s Malnati Brain Tumor Institute tested the SonoCloud-9 device from Lyon-based Carthera in previous trials. Therapeutic ultrasound briefly disrupted protective barriers for about 60 minutes, permitting chemotherapy penetration into affected areas. Fresh analysis using University of Michigan diagnostics shows that temporarily compromising these barriers lets tumor material seep into circulation. This enables effectiveness monitoring via samples drawn before and after treatments.
Sunitha Nagrath, heading chemical engineering at Michigan and co-directing the investigation, described how microscopic packages called extracellular vesicles circulate in patient bloodstreams after tumor cells release them. These packages transport genetic information and protein cargo from malignancies. Isolating specifically those from malignancies rather than healthy areas presents the key difficulty researchers needed to overcome.
Michigan investigators developed capture methods targeting distinct fatty molecules abundant on package surfaces. Running plasma through their GlioExoChip device isolates cancer-specific materials, converting simple draws into informative liquid samples that reveal treatment impact in real time.
Investigators tallied these vesicles before and after each intervention, creating proportional comparisons by dividing post-treatment quantities by pre-treatment figures. Rising proportions across successive sessions indicated success while flat or falling proportions signaled failure and prompted treatment changes.
Mark Youngblood, a Northwestern neurosurgery trainee and research contributor, noted that the chip enables rapid, low-impact monitoring for a condition where traditional imaging frequently produces ambiguous information that complicates treatment decisions for clinicians.
Future work will test these methods across different glioblastoma treatments and investigate whether vesicle detection helps assess other malignancies. Federal health agencies provided primary funding for the study alongside numerous supporting organizations including cancer research foundations and military medical programs.
The eventual commercialization of this blood test could be pivotal in confirming that patients are benefiting from any novel therapies from entities like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) indicated for glioblastoma.
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