Laser-Aided Immunotherapy For Brain Cancer

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Adding a laser procedure dramatically improves the results of immunotherapy for one of the deadliest brain cancers. Neuro-oncologists at USC report this development in the journal Nature Communications.

In this Phase 1/2 clinical trial, 45 patients with recurrent astrocytoma were randomized to receive either laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) that destroys tumor tissue and opens the blood-brain barrier plus the immunotherapy with the drug pembrolizumab immunotherapy or standard care, surgery, followed by the immunotherapy.

The results are striking: nearly 50% of patients in the LITT group were alive at 18 months, compared with 0% in the standard-treatment group. In addition, more than one-third of LITT-treated patients survived beyond three years, compared to a typical 4–5 month survival seen with surgery and immunotherapy.

The addition of of LITT, adding laser therapy to immunotherapy, is a potential game-changing approach. These results are early and require confirmation in larger trials, they offer real hope in a disease with limited therapeutic options and generally poor outcomes.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69522-w

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20260226/Innovative-laser-procedure-offers-new-hope-for-recurrent-brain-tumors.aspx

#laser #immunotherapy #astrocytoma #cancer