Since “A growing body of research has demonstrated that GBM tumors may be susceptible to infection by CMV, with over 90 percent of GBM tumors expressing CMV antigens,” , taking Valcyte will be helpful?
There is proof of CMV antigens in GBM tumor cells (GBM->CMV way), but there is no direct link like CMV->GBM. If patient is infected with CMV then virtually all his cells will represent CMV antigens - just because of virus nature. That doesn't make an anti-CMV treatment a silver bullet in this case.
All negatives aside, as stated by Dr Cobb from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, "Despite the issues in the original study design and the retrospective analysis of patients treated with valganciclovir, it seems unlikely that the 25 patients who received valganciclovir upfront and throughout their treatment would have a median survival of 56.4 months by chance. Of all the patients who were treated on study or afterwards with valganciclovir (n = 50), the likelihood that the top 25 longest survivors would have a mean survival of 56 months, even if “cherry picked,” is low." Neuro Oncol. 2014 Mar; 16(3): 330–331. Point is, maybe they don't know why exactly, but the results are staggering! eh?
This is very good news, considering the impressive preliminary results we've seen for other CMV-directed vaccines for GBM.
ReplyDeleteSince “A growing body of research has demonstrated that GBM tumors may be susceptible to infection by CMV, with over 90 percent of GBM tumors expressing CMV antigens,” , taking Valcyte will be helpful?
ReplyDeleteThere is proof of CMV antigens in GBM tumor cells (GBM->CMV way), but there is no direct link like CMV->GBM. If patient is infected with CMV then virtually all his cells will represent CMV antigens - just because of virus nature. That doesn't make an anti-CMV treatment a silver bullet in this case.
DeleteStephen, please, correct me if I'm wrong.
All negatives aside, as stated by Dr Cobb from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, "Despite the issues in the original study design and the retrospective analysis of patients treated with valganciclovir, it seems unlikely that the 25 patients who received valganciclovir upfront and throughout their treatment would have a median survival of 56.4 months by chance. Of all the patients who were treated on study or afterwards with valganciclovir (n = 50), the likelihood that the top 25 longest survivors would have a mean survival of 56 months, even if “cherry picked,” is low."
ReplyDeleteNeuro Oncol. 2014 Mar; 16(3): 330–331.
Point is, maybe they don't know why exactly, but the results are staggering! eh?
doi: 10.1093/neuonc/nou009