An electric skull cap designed to zap cancer cells trying to grow in the brains of wearers proved useful at improving patient survival in a five-year clinical trial.
When combined with standard chemotherapy, the cap more than doubled five-year survival rates of brain cancer patients—from 5 percent to 13 percent—researchers reported …at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research… The trial involved 695 patients newly diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme.
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But it comes with a steep price—around $700 a day, the AP reports. Most US insurers are covering the caps, which have already gained FDA approval. The company behind the trial and the device, Novocure, is covering those on Medicare, Novocure CEO Bill Doyle said.
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Related on the SLP
In the five-year, phase III clinical trial—from July 2009 to November 2014—466 glioblastoma patients were randomly assigned to try out the Optune with their temozolomide treatment, while 229 others took just temozolomide.
The median overall survival jumped from 16 months among patients on the standard chemotherapy to 21 months for those also using the Optune, researchers found.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Brain cancer patients live longer wearing electric cap designed to zap tumors
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