A new way to treat brain cancer in children with the virus
US scientists say they have used a new and unusual method of treating a specific type of brain tumor in children, with encouraging results.
Millions of copies of a particular type of virus are injected directly into the brains of infected children to treat this tumor, called “Glee Oms”, which weakens the tumor and stimulates the immune system. This has revived the possibility of complete eradication of the tumor.
Called “Glee Oms”, this tumor is responsible for eight to ten percent of all brain cancer cases in children.
A recent study published in the American Association for Cancer Research and the New England Journal of Medicine found that children treated in this way lived longer than other such patients.
Researchers say that although most children with the tumor died from the disease, many survived for many years after recovering from the treatment. This is considered impossible with this particular type of tumor.
“This is the first and most important step in the treatment of this disease,” Gregory Friedman, a pediatric cancer specialist at the University of Alabama in the United States, told the Associated Press.
“Our goal is to improve this treatment,” he said.
