New therapies for recurrent glioblastomas

Glioblastomas are the most common and deadliest form of malignant primary brain tumor. Until recently, therapies for tumors that recur after standard treatment have been largely ineffective. Recent phase II studies with the humanized monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor bevacizumab suggest that this agent is active in recurrent glioblastomas, producing response rates of 26-40% and prolonging 6-month progression-free survival to 36-50%. As a result of these studies, the US Food and Drug Administration recently granted accelerated approval for bevacizumab as a treatment for recurrent glioblastomas.