Key Points
- EANO’s 19th meeting was held October 17–20, 2024, in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
- Focused ultrasound presentations included both clinical and preclinical efforts to improve the treatment of brain tumors.
The 19th annual meeting of the European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO), which was held October 17–20, 2024, in Glasgow, also served as a 30-year celebration of the association’s founding. The four-day event included an educational day and presentations on the latest clinical trial outcomes as well as advances in basic and translational science. Sessions addressed advanced therapies, novel targets, artificial intelligence and data sharing, and supporting young researchers and clinicians.
“Our collaborators at the University of California–San Francisco, Marco Gallus and Hideho Okada, presented their preclinical glioma work,” said Michael Canney, PhD, chief scientific officer at Carthera. “In addition, Carthera hosted a meeting for the investigators involved in our pivotal SONOBIRD study for recurrent GBM (sonobird.eu). Convening the PIs from each study site is always productive and beneficial to the research study.”
Focused Ultrasound Presentations
- A T-Cell Therapy Combined with Low-Intensity Pulsed Focused Ultrasound, Microbubbles, and PolyICLC Promotes the Presentation of Brain-Derived Antigens, Breaking CNS Tolerance and Inducing Active T-Cell Responses by M. Gallus, University of California–San Francisco
Study findings collectively suggested that focused ultrasound–mediated blood-brain barrier opening combined with adoptive T cell transfer and an immunotherapeutic (poly-ICLC) helped overcome inherent limitations of CAR T cell therapy for glioma by enhancing epitope spreading.
- A Multicenter, Randomized, Controlled Trial of Focused-Ultrasound-Mediated Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption Plus Systemic Pembrolizumab for Patients with NSCLC Brain Metastases (LIMITLESS)* by M. S. Ahluwalia, Miami Cancer Institute and Florida International University
LIMITLESS is an ongoing, prospective, multicenter, parallel-arm, open-label randomized controlled trial that randomizes patients with non-small lung cancer brain metastasis on pembrolizumab monotherapy as per standard-of-care to either focused ultrasound–mediated blood-brain barrier opening plus pembrolizumab (arm 1) or pembrolizumab alone (arm 2). The primary study outcome is the overall objective response rate at 6 months as assessed using RANO-BM criteria. Exploratory outcomes are median progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival, median intracranial PFS, median extracranial PFS, and quality of life. Patient enrollment commenced in 2022 and is ongoing.
- A Prospective, Multicenter Trial of Focused Ultrasound for Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption for Liquid Biopsy in Glioblastoma (LIBERATE)* by M. S. Ahluwalia, Miami Cancer Institute and Florida International University
LIBERATE is an ongoing, prospective, multi-center, self-controlled, pivotal trial evaluating safety and technical efficacy of low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU)–mediated blood-brain barrier disruption for increasing circulating tumor (ct) and cell-free (cf) DNA levels in adults with GBM. Patients with suspected GBM scheduled for tumor biopsy or resection are being enrolled at ten centers in the US. Primary study endpoint is defined, per subject, as the ratio between their cfDNA level in blood 1-hour post-LIFU procedure compared to cfDNA level in blood pre-procedure. Patient enrollment commenced in 2022, and 22 patients have been recruited by 05/2024.
*These studies are being supported by the Focused Ultrasound Foundation.
The Foundation and Carthera were both general sponsors of EANO 2024.
Next Meeting
The 20th annual EANO meeting will be held October 16–19, 2025, in Prague, Czech Republic. Abstract submission will open at the end of February 2025, and the submission deadline is April 30, 2025. Go directly to the 2025 EANO abstract page.
The Foundation thanks Dr. Canney for his assistance with this meeting report.