Mar. 10, 2005. 01:00 AM Drug boosts brain tumour treatment Discovery `a huge relief' `The first advance in 30 years' SHERYL UBELACKER CANADIAN PRESS A drug that disrupts DNA to stop cancer cells from multiplying can prolong the lives of some people with the most common and deadliest type of brain tumour, a study by Canadian and European researchers has found. While not a cure, the drug temozolomide marks the first advance in treating glioblastoma in three decades. "We have a new standard of care, a new standard treatment," said Dr. Greg Cairncross, a brain tumour specialist at the University of Calgary who led the Canadian arm of the study. The study, appearing today in the New England Journal of Medicine, involved 573 adults with glioblastoma across Canada and in 12 European countries. Researchers compared patients treated with radiation and temozolomide to those who received radiation alone. Most had already had surgery. After two years, 26 per cent of patients on the drug-radiation combination were still alive, compared to 10 per cent for radiation alone. The average survival rate was almost 15 months for those on temozolomide versus 12 months. "For the first time, we've shown that a chemotherapy, when used at diagnosis, can improve survival," said co-author Dr. Warren Mason, a neuro-oncologist at Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital who called it the "first advance in 30 years" in managing the disease. More than 1,100 Canadians are diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme each year; Most die within nine to 12 months of diagnosis. The octopus-like tumour can arise anywhere in the brain, insidiously sending its tentacles to infiltrate brain tissue. That means surgery can never fully eradicate the tumour, as is the case in some other types of cancer. While a small percentage of patients are genetically predisposed to develop glioblastomas, most occur "sporadically," with no known underlying cause, say doctors, speculating that the culprit may be some environmental agent. Dr. Michael Wosnick of the Canadian Cancer Society praised the study findings. "To be able to treat at least 30 per cent of glioblastoma patients with a straightforward, well-tolerated treatment that significantly improves their life-expectancy is a huge advance that should change clinical practice overnight," Wosnick said. For physicians who have long dealt with this bad-news disease, the study's results come with a huge sense of relief. "It's so difficult to treat and it's such a tragic illness," said Cairncross. "I'm very pleased after many years of slugging away at the problem to see a genuine improvement."