Foundation Hosts Roundtable on Blood-Brain Barrier Opening

Published:

Key Points

  • The meeting covered methods for confirming and quantifying drug/therapeutic delivery following blood-brain barrier opening (BBBO).
  • Representatives from the Foundation and focused ultrasound experts from five leading institutions participated.
  • A follow-up consortium will further address the topic.

FUF BloodBrainBarrier DeliverDrugsFINALOn July 14, the Foundation hosted a roundtable discussion centered on methods for confirming and quantifying drug/therapeutic delivery following blood-brain barrier opening (BBBO).

Representatives from the Foundation and focused ultrasound experts from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Columbia University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre participated in the discussion.

The group met to address an unmet need identified at the Focused Ultrasound for Glioblastoma workshop. During that May 2021 meeting, there was a consensus that although the procedures for confirmation of BBBO are well-established at this time (mostly using contrast T1 weighted images as a surrogate), it may not correlate with an increased delivery of therapeutics to the targeted area. Thus, the aim of this roundtable was to answer the following questions:

  1. What methods can be used to more accurately verify and quantify therapeutic delivery to the targeted area of BBBO?
  2. How can we study these methods in preclinical and clinical studies to compare and contrast with current methodologies like T1 weighted imaging, etc.?
  3. Are there projects that the Foundation can support to solve some of the current conundrums?

The discussion was informative, collaborative, and productive. As a result of this meeting, a consortium was created to collectively identify knowledge gaps and create a roadmap to answer the burning questions.

If you are interested in becoming involved with this initiative, contact Lauren Powlovich, MD.