Convection-enhanced drug delivery for gliomas

In spite of aggressive multi-modality treatments, patients diagnosed with anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma continue to display poor median survival. The success of our current conventional and targeted chemotherapies are largely hindered by systemic- and neurotoxicity, as well as poor central nervous system (CNS) penetration. Interstitial drug administration via convection-enhanced delivery (CED) is an alternative that potentially overcomes systemic toxicities and CNS delivery issues by directly bypassing the blood–brain barrier (BBB). This novel approach not only allows for directed administration, but also allows for newer, tumor-selective agents, which would normally be excluded from the CNS due to molecular size alone. To date, randomized trials of CED therapy have yet to definitely show survival advantage as compared with today's standard of care, however, early studies appear to have been limited by “first generation” delivery techniques. Taking into consideration lessons learned from early trials along with decades of research, newer CED technologies and therapeutic agents are emerging, which are reviewed herein.