Cancer research: better treatment of brain tumors

Theranostics is playing an increasingly important role in precision medicine. It combines molecular imaging techniques and targeted radiation treatment for personalized cancer therapy. Diagnostics and therapy are thus combined. The concept is already in clinical use for various types of cancer. "Theranostic treatments have already proven effective in clinical trials and have now been approved for the personalized treatment of prostate cancer and neuroendocrine tumors," explains Professor Nathalie Albert, nuclear medicine specialist at LMU Hospital. "However, brain tumors still represent an unmet clinical need." Theranostics could also offer effective treatment options for cancers that affect the brain. Albert is the lead author of a position paper recently published in the journal The Lancet Oncology by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC[-1] ), which summarizes the potential of theranostics for the treatment of brain tumors.

"In this position paper, we discuss the opportunities and challenges in the development of targeted radionuclide therapies for the treatment of brain tumors, including gliomas, meningiomas and brain metastases," says Nathalie Albert, Chair of the Nuclear Medicine Committee of the EORTC Brain Tumor Group. "There is a great clinical need for new treatment options for these tumors," emphasizes Matthias Preusser, Head of the Clinical Division of Oncology at MedUni Vienna's Department of Medicine I and last author of the publication. Despite major advances in recent years, the mortality rate for brain tumors remains high.

In the publication, the researchers also consider the effective planning and implementation of clinical studies on the theranostic treatment concept for brain tumors and address logistical and regulatory challenges in neuro-oncological practice. "A well thought-out development will promote the successful transfer of the theranostic concept to brain tumors," says Preusser. The researchers emphasize that prospective and controlled clinical trials are necessary for the successful further development of these novel approaches to brain tumor treatment. "Theranostics will play a major role in the cancer therapy of the future. We will now systematically investigate this potential for the treatment of brain tumors," says Albert.

At the end of 2024, the EORTC network led by Professor Albert will launch the world's first prospective randomized study, which will investigate theranostic therapy for recurrent meningiomas in 35 centers in ten European countries including Germany ( LUMEN-1; NCT06326190 ).

Congress notice: The next Nuclear Medicine and Neurooncology (NMN) Symposium: Precision Medicine will take place in Vienna from May 9 to 10, 2025.

Publikation

Translating the theranostic concept to neuro-oncology: disrupting barriers
Nathalie L. Albert, Emilie Le Rhun, Giuseppe Minniti, Maximilian J. Mair, Norbert Galldiks, Nelleke Tolboom, Asgeir S. Jakola, Maximilian Niyazi, Marion Smits, Antoine Verger, Francesco Cicone, Michael Weller, Matthias Preusser
The Lancet Oncology, 2024
DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00145-1