Most people with a gioblastoma die after an average of 15 months. But a small group of people manages to survive with this type of cancer for more than 10 years. With this new trial, dr. Brecht Decraene hopes to find an explanation for this large difference in survival rate.
Comparative trial
The trial wil compare pieces of brain tumour from both long-term survivors with those of short-term survivors. By comparing the composition of the brain tumour of both groups, doctor Decraene hopes to find an answer to the question how someone can survive up to 10 times as long.
The cells in parts of the brain tumour will be be examined with new techniques. In addition, the trial will examine how these cells communicate with one another and with the surrounding normal brain cells. Finally the cell interactions and cell composition of the long-term survivors will be compared withe short-time survivors.
Better treatment
By mapping these uniqe elements that are responsible for the exceptional long survival of some patients with a giobastoma, we gain more insight in this complex type of cancer. In time, this will hopefully mean the development of more targeted treatments for this type of cancer.