An update on GBM AGILE

Michelle Stewart, Head of Research Strategy at Cure Brain Cancer Foundation

In November 2015, we announced that Cure Brain Cancer Foundation had helped to catalyse and provide early stage funding for GBM AGILE. This new approach to clinical trials was brought about by a coalition of 130 of the world’s brightest minds who united to fight glioblastoma (GBM), one of the most common and severe forms of brain cancer.

GBM AGILE remains the biggest global collaboration in the history of brain cancer research, turning convention on its head to develop more effective treatments faster and cheaper than the traditional clinical trials process.  

Since then, GBM AGILE has grown to include more than 150 clinicians and scientists with the intention of increasing the number of potential therapeutic options, improving the likelihood of success and potentially increasing survival for brain cancer patients.

The GBM AGILE team is currently in discussion with the USA’s FDA (Food and Drug Administration) to create a process that will make it faster for a larger group of patients to access the promising drugs that are being tested in this clinical trial. This will be done by allowing seamless transition from Phase II to Phase III of the trial which does not traditionally happen in the current clinical trial format.

However, these improvements to GBM AGILE have delayed the enrolment of patients onto the trial by longer than had previously been hoped and announced. 

The GBM AGILE team is acutely aware of the need to fast-track research and we are working with the group to help the trial start as soon as possible. However, all steps must be taken to ensure GBM AGILE is safe and effective for patients.  

A number of important regulatory steps must be taken before GBM AGILE opens to patients and once they have been addressed we will provide a further update in Q1 2017.

We, along with other collaborators around the world, have worked tirelessly to ensure GBM AGILE will be successful, and we thank the community and researchers for their hard work and support in making this clinical trial a reality for Australians living with a GBM.

There are several other important clinical trials currently underway for GBM patients in Australia, funded by Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and other sources. If you or someone you know is interested in participating in a brain cancer clinical trial, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Michelle Stewart
Head of Research Strategy, Cure Brain Cancer Foundation