UMN Researchers Start Human Trial of New Cancer Treatment

Glioblastoma is a form of aggressive brain and spinal cancer with relatively few treatments aimed at strengthening the patients’ immune systems. Though these other treatments have been effective, researcher Michael Olin, PhD, Associate Professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the University of Minnesota, has recently begun treating human glioblastoma patients with a new therapy. Dr. Olin and colleagues have been working on this new treatment since 2012 and it works to suppress the tumor while helping the immune system to fight the cancer cells. Currently, the research is in phase one of human trials which will last about two years, and will be treating up to 18 glioblastoma patients with various dosages. Researchers will begin with injections in volunteer adult subjects and will transition into pediatric patients. As of now, the team hasn’t seen any side effects from the animal trials and the early human test stages, and the treatment was often successful in animal subjects. If phases are successful in the future, this treatment therapy could not only be applied to glioblastomas, but to other cancers and infectious diseases as a method to help the immune system fight these diseases. To read more about Dr. Olin and colleagues’ work, use the following links.

University of Minnesota: https://cancer.umn.edu/news/u-m-begins-phase-i-first-human-clinical-trial-glioblastoma.

Minnesota Daily: https://mndaily.com/265033/news/umn-researchers-start-human-trial-of-new-cancer-treatment/