GT Medical Technologies Highlights Glioblastoma (GBM) Awareness Day July 19 and Ongoing GammaTile® Therapy Clinical Studies

TEMPE, Ariz., July 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2018, inspired by John McCain's courageous battle with glioblastoma (GBM), a bipartisan group of senators passed a resolution to focus the nation's attention on GBM, which is the most common, complex, treatment-resistant, and deadliest type of brain cancer.¹

Today, the standard of care for a patient with newly diagnosed GBM is the surgical removal of the tumor, a waiting period to allow time for recovery from surgery, and radiation planning, followed by concurrent radiation and chemotherapy. One of the primary treatment challenges is that nearly half the patients (45.9%) experience rapid early progression (REP) while waiting to start external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and chemotherapy.² Unfortunately, radiation delays allow residual cancer cells to proliferate, which results in shortened survival.^3-5 The survival rate for patients with GBM is only 6.9% at 5 years post-diagnosis.¹

Fortunately, there is hope for patients with GBMs and other operable brain tumors. FDA-cleared GammaTile Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) is the first medical device advancement in over a decade for treating GBMs and is one of only 7 FDA-cleared/approved new treatments for brain tumors in the past 50 years. 

Implanted during brain tumor removal surgery by the neurosurgeon, GammaTiles are collagen tiles embedded with radiation sources. In a single treatment, GammaTile Therapy eliminates the EBRT treatment delay and gives patients a head start in preventing tumor regrowth. In the initial clinical trial evaluating GammaTile Therapy for recurrent glioblastoma, patients who received GammaTile Therapy had better progression-free survival and overall survival compared to a cohort of patients who did not have GammaTile Therapy with surgery.⁶

"On GBM Awareness Day and every day, it's so important we get the word out to patients with GBMs and other operable brain tumors that they no longer have to settle for the standard EBRT delay and the burden of weeks of daily treatments," said Matthew Likens, CEO of GT Medical Technologies. "With GammaTile Therapy, patients can benefit from a single, targeted immediate radiation treatment that gets them back to their lives sooner. Nearly 100 hospitals now offer GammaTile Therapy—we are working diligently to expand treatment access nationwide."

Patients can testify to the GammaTile Therapy's effectiveness, convenience, and minimal side effects. "I was only in the hospital for two days. With GammaTile Therapy, I did not experience hair loss or any side effects," recounted Mary, a GBM survivor who received treatment at Mayfield Brain & Spine. View video of Mary's GammaTile Therapy experience.

Advancements like GammaTile Therapy are made possible by patients who volunteer to participate in clinical studies to further validate the safety and effectiveness of this therapy. GT Medical Technologies is sponsoring ongoing studies at leading brain tumor treatment centers nationwide for patients with GBMs and other brain tumors. For a list of studies and treatment centers, click here.

About GT Medical Technologies, Inc.

Driven to raise the standard of care and improve the lives of patients with brain tumors, a team of brain tumor specialists formed GT Medical Technologies. FDA-cleared GammaTile is a Surgically Targeted Radiation Therapy (STaRT) for patients undergoing brain tumor removal surgery of newly diagnosed malignant and recurrent brain tumors. This "one-and-done" treatment eliminates the need for one to six weeks of daily external beam radiation therapy, allowing patients to go about their daily lives without the burden of additional trips to the hospital or clinic for ongoing treatment. Since its full market release in the United States in March 2020, GammaTile has been offered in more than 95 hospitals, with more centers being added each month. For more information, visit www.gtmedtech.com and follow @GammaTile on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media contact:
Lori Kagan
[email protected]

References

1. Glioblastoma Awareness Day. Brain Tumor Organization website. https://braintumor.org/events/glioblastoma-awareness-day. Accessed July 10, 2023.

2. Waqar M, Roncaroli F, Lehrer EJ, et al. Rapid early progression (REP) of glioblastoma is an independent negative prognostic factor: Results from a systematic review and meta-analysis [published correction appears in Neurooncol Adv. 2022;4(1):vdac125]. Neurooncol Adv. 2022;4(1):vdac075.

3. Do V, Gebski V, Barton MB. The effect of waiting for radiotherapy for grade III/IV gliomas. Radiother Oncol. 2000;57(2):131-136.

4. Buszek SM, Al Feghali KA, Elhalawani H, et al. Optimal Timing of Radiotherapy Following Gross Total or Subtotal Resection of Glioblastoma: A Real-World Assessment using the National Cancer Database. Sci Rep. 2020;10(1):4926-4929.

5. Katsigiannis S, Krischek B, Barleanu S, et al. Impact of time to initiation of radiotherapy on survival after resection of newly diagnosed glioblastoma. Radiat Oncol. 2019;14(1):73.

6. Gessler DJ, Neil EC, Shah R, et al. GammaTile^® brachytherapy in the treatment of recurrent glioblastomas. Neurooncol Adv. 2021;4(1):vdab185.

SOURCE GT Medical Technologies

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