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Brain Tumor Breakthrough
Brown Alumni Magazine • • health
Key Points:
- Dr. Linda Liau, chair of neurosurgery at UCLA, developed an innovative vaccine treatment for glioblastoma by exposing patients' white blood cells to tumor cells outside the brain and reinfusing them to stimulate an immune response against brain tumors.
- Clinical trials from 2003 to 2019 involving 331 patients showed that 20 to 25 percent survived years beyond typical expectations, a significant improvement for this aggressive cancer with less than 5 percent five-year survival rates.
- Current research focuses on understanding why a subset of patients respond well, investigating biomarkers like MGMT methylation and examining blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and gut microbiome factors.
- Liau’s work earned her the J.E. Wallace Sterling Lifetime Achievement Award in Medicine, highlighting her pioneering contributions to brain tumor immunotherapy and neurosurgery.
- Despite advances, brain tumor removal remains a delicate, manual procedure due to the brain's complex and variable anatomy, and Liau emphasizes the emotional importance of offering hope to patients facing devastating diagnoses.
