Brain Cancer Research in Seattle Leads to New Treatment Options for Patients

SEATTLE, Aug. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Since its opening in 2008, the Ben & Catherine Ivy Center for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment (the Ivy Center) at Swedish Medical Center's Neuroscience Institute has led the expansion drive of major research projects and expanded treatment options for patients living with brain cancer in the Pacific Northwest and throughout the world.  The Ivy Center was founded in 2008 to create a world-class treatment and research facility focused on delivering excellent patient care and advancing progress toward more effective treatments for brain cancer.

While great strides have been made in the treatment of breast, colon and other common cancers, only three new drugs to treat brain cancer have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the past 35 years, and these drugs prolong the lives of patients by only a few months. Such a center was needed at the time, said Greg Foltz, M.D., a neurosurgeon and director of the Ivy Center, because brain cancer had been for far too long a neglected or "orphan" disease.

In fact, today the life expectancy of a person diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most common form of malignant primary brain cancer, is only about 15 months — only slightly better than it was a century ago, Dr. Foltz said. "We felt we needed to focus our efforts on   coming up with better treatment options," said Dr. Foltz. "We felt someone had to champion this cause so we embarked on a mission to get more researchers and physicians focused on this disease. And we did."

Today, the Ivy Center at Swedish has partnered with and led major brain cancer programs with the Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation, Institute for Systems Biology, Allen Institute for Brain Science, University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Accium Biosciences and The Elliott Foundation. This has led to a variety of new brain cancer treatment options and research programs for people living with brain cancer in our region. "Previously, none of this existed," said Dr. Foltz.

Five Years of Progress Made

The goal of the Ivy Center was to create a place where brain tumor patients and their families would have access to the best care and latest clinical research. The Ivy Center has achieved this making it possible for the center's neurosurgeons, oncologists, radiologists and nursing staff to work in close collaboration with the program's team of scientists.  This collaboration allows clinicians and scientists to provide patients with the best of care as well as direct access to promising new therapies and clinical trials.

The Ivy Center's clinical team provides comprehensive, integrated care that includes the latest neurosurgery techniques and technology, including intra-operative MRI-guided navigation, precision Gamma Knife radiosurgery as well as the support of a team of physical and occupational therapists, counselors, and other specialists who provide each patient with comprehensive, personalized care.

"People with brain cancer have needs that transcend the traditional requirements of most patients. Care is not just about an operation, it's not just about a medication," said Dr. Foltz. "Brain cancer is a life-changing event, so it's very important from the first meeting that these patients know that we're there for them, that we care deeply about them and we're going to provide all the resources that are possible to help them fight their disease."

New Strategies in the Search for a Brain Cancer Cure

Over the past five years the Ivy Center has established an international reputation for its expertise in the genetic analysis of individual tumors. At the Ivy Center, a genetic profile is created of every patient's tumor with the goal to identify each tumor's individual weaknesses and to develop new, personalized treatment strategies that target these weaknesses.

The Ivy Center's genomic database — now one of the largest brain tumor research projects in the country — was developed in collaboration with the world-renowned Institute for Systems Biology. This collaboration brings together physicians and scientists in the fields of neurosurgery, neuropathology, systems biology, genomics and biostatistical analysis. Together they are determining how networks of genes and proteins interact in brain cancer to discover new targets for diagnostic tests and treatments.

In another partnership, the Ivy Center and the Allen Institute for Brain Science are creating a 3-D map of gene activity within brain tumors.  These maps can then be compared with maps of gene activity in normal brain tissue to identify which genes are malfunctioning in the cancer tissue. Once these genes are identified the goal is to develop diagnostics and treatments that target these malfunctioning genes.

All data from these projects are being made available online to researchers around the world for free.

Clinical Trials for Brain Cancer Patients Brought to the Pacific Northwest

The Ivy Center's expertise in the genetic analysis of brain tumors has led to its participation in a number of groundbreaking clinical trials:

• Toca 511 Trial: The Ivy Center team is one of only eight sites in the country participating in the Toca trial. In this trial, a genetically engineered virus is used to insert a gene into glioblastoma cells. The gene produces a protein that activates a chemotherapy drug. Because the virus only inserts the gene into cancerous cells, the drug will only harm tumor cells. This approach allows high doses of the lethal drug to accumulate in the tumor cells, while sparing healthy cells nearby.
• Temozolomide Trial: In this trial the Ivy Center team is leading a trial with the Seattle biotechnology company Accium Biosciences.  In the study, researchers use Accium's 15-ton particle accelerator to analyze tumor tissue to determine precisely just how much of the chemotherapy drug temozolomide reaches its target. This information will help determine which patients are most likely to benefit from the drug and which patients should try a different treatment.  By using this new approach, it is hoped doctors will be able to better optimize brain cancer therapy so that they deliver the right drug to the right patient at the right dose.
• DCVax Brain Cancer Vaccine Trial: In this groundbreaking study, a cancer vaccine is being used to train patients' immune systems to attack and kill their brain cancer cells. Once trained, it is hoped these immune cells will track down and destroy any brain cancer cells that remain after surgery and to be ready to fight off any new tumor cells should the cancer recur.

Building a Community for Care and a Cure

Finally, since its founding the Ivy Center has made community involvement a high priority. The center's community outreach efforts range from involving as many patients as possible in research to develop new treatments, to building community support for patients and their families to help them cope with the disease, to enlisting the community in fundraising and education efforts.

The Ivy Center was established with a lead gift from Ben & Catherine Ivy, and $11 million in philanthropic funds have been raised in support of the Center thus far. As a nonprofit, the Ivy Center depends heavily on community support to fund new research initiatives and patient participation in clinical trials, which is often not covered by insurance.

"We are never going to find more effective treatments for brain cancer without the help of the community," said Dr. Foltz.

A highlight of these efforts is the Seattle Brain Cancer Walk, which has become a popular annual event that now draws thousands of participants and has raised more than $1.8 million for brain cancer research, care and advocacy.

Proceeds from Seattle's Brain Cancer Walk have supported the Pacific Northwest region's most promising brain cancer research projects as well as programs and services that benefit brain cancer patients, including clinical trials, advocacy programs, as well as comprehensive patient care and support services in the Pacific Northwest.

Over the past five years, the Ivy Center's team of health providers and researchers has made real progress in understanding brain cancer and its treatment, said Dr. Foltz. "I am very hopeful that in the near term — we're not talking decades — but in the next three to five years that we will see new therapies that will significantly help these patients," Dr. Foltz said.

About Swedish

Swedish has grown over the last 103 years to become the largest non-profit health provider in the Greater Seattle area with 11,000 employees, more than 2,000 physicians and 1,700 volunteers. It is comprised of five hospital campuses (First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard, Edmonds and Issaquah); ambulatory care centers in Redmond and Mill Creek; and Swedish Medical Group, a network of more than 100 primary-care and specialty clinics located throughout the Greater Puget Sound area. In addition to general medical and surgical care including robotic-assisted surgery, Swedish is known as a regional referral center, providing specialized treatment in areas such as cardiovascular care, cancer care, neuroscience, orthopedics, high-risk obstetrics, pediatric specialties, organ transplantation and clinical research. For more information, visit www.swedish.org, www.swedishcares.org, www.facebook.com/swedishmedicalcenter, or www.twitter.com/swedish.

Swedish is affiliated with Providence Health & Services, which is a Catholic, not-for-profit organization founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1856 with 27 hospitals, 214 physician clinics and almost 53,000 employees across five states. Based in Renton, Wash., Providence Health & Services provides strategic and management services to integrated health-care systems in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington state. For more information, visit www.providence.org.

SOURCE Swedish Neuroscience Institute

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