Miami Cancer Institute researchers have received a $3.4 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to further glioblastoma research. The award acknowledges the significant contributions of physician-investigators at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute and comes at a particularly relevant time - July 17 is Glioblastoma Awareness Day.

Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain cancer and also the most deadly, largely because of its location and its resistance to treatment. Approximately 15,000 Americans are diagnosed with glioblastoma each year. Even with advances in cancer care, the prognosis for glioblastoma patients has not changed significantly and patients typically survive just 15-18 months beyond diagnosis.

“We’re very excited about the NIH/NCI R01 grant because research such as this drives the revolutionary change necessary to improve the quality of our patients’ lives and to extend their survival,” said Manmeet Ahluwalia, M.D., MBA, FASCO, chief of medical oncology, chief scientific officer, deputy director and Fernandez Family Foundation Chair in Research at Miami Cancer Institute.

The project, “Quantitative Imaging Phenotype Classifier for Distinguishing Radiation Effects from Tumor Recurrence in Glioblastoma,” is spearheaded by Dr. Ahluwalia and Pallavi Tiwari, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who serve as the co-principal investigators of the study. The effort is a collaboration between Miami Cancer Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cleveland Clinic and Moffitt Cancer Center.

Imaging studies after radiation and chemotherapy in glioblastoma patients often fail to distinguish between brain cancer progression and changes caused by the inflammatory process in the brain. “Pseudo progression occurs in 40 percent of patients, falsely indicating that the cancer is progressing when it is not and, as a result, patients can be taken off medications and treatment can be discontinued,” Dr. Ahluwalia said.

The new study will build upon previous work by the researchers that resulted in the development of a new image-based recurrence risk classifier and will validate its reliability. Using radiomics, or high-end imaging along with predictive modeling, the physicians are hopeful that the new method can replace the more invasive biopsies that typically must be performed to determine glioblastoma recurrence.

NIH R01 grants are the oldest grant mechanism used by the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world. Less than 10 percent of R01 applications are funded, making them extremely competitive. This is the most recent R01 grant received by Miami Cancer Institute, and it is funding just one of many brain cancer studies being led by the Institute.

Dr. Ahluwalia is also leading a multi-center study, “Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD) for Liquid Biopsy in Subjects with Glioblastoma Brain Tumors.” The trial uses low-intensity focused ultrasound to perform a liquid biopsy of a brain tumor. During the procedure, the blood-brain barrier is temporarily disrupted, allowing tumor DNA to leak into the bloodstream, where it can be detected in a blood test.

Rupesh Kotecha, M.D., chief of radiosurgery and director of the Central Nervous System Metastasis Program at the Institute, is leading a phase II trial, “Testing the Addition of Immune Therapy Drugs, Tocilizumab and Atezolizumab, to Radiation Therapy for Recurrent Glioblastoma.” Physicians hope that the combination of immunotherapy medications and radiation therapy will improve the body’s ability to use its immune system and attack the cancer cells, helping to shrink or to stabilize the cancer better than radiation therapy alone in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

 “Our teams are working diligently and collaborating with many around the world to find better ways to treat cancer, as well as to prevent and diagnose the disease,” Dr. Ahluwalia said. “Miami Cancer Institute is making every effort to lead the research that will ultimately make a difference for our patients and their families.”

Other Miami Cancer Institute clinical trials in patients with glioblastoma include:

• A Study to Evaluate ERAS-901 in Patients with Recurrent Glioblastoma (THUNDERBBOLT-1)
• Phase 1/2 Study of BDTX-1535 in Patients with Glioblastoma or Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with EGFR Mutations
• Azeliragon in Newly Diagnosed MGMT Unmethylated Glioblastoma
• Testing the Addition of the Chemotherapy Drug Lomustine (Gleostine®) to the Usual Treatment (Temozolomide and Radiation Therapy) for Newly Diagnosed MGMT Methylated Glioblastoma
• SurVaxM Plus Adjuvant Termozolomide for Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma (SURVIVE)