Brain Cancer patients beat odds with experimental treatment

The tumor-treating fields, as the therapy is called, disrupts the division of cancer cells by delivering low-intensity, intermediate-frequency alternating electric fields. It is delivered through “transducer arrays” attached to the shaved scalp. The randomized control trial of the device would determine whether the therapy improved survival rates of patients with glio-blastoma multiform.
In 2014, the clinical trial was terminated because the results were so positive. There were 210 patients using the electric field device as well as receiving chemotherapy and 105 receiving chemo alone. After 38 months, the median overall survival rate for those using the device plus the chemotherapy drug temozolomide was 20.5 months. The median overall survival rate for those using temozolomide alone was 15.6 months. Put another way, 43 per cent of people who received the experimental therapy as well as the standard therapy were alive after two years, compared to 29 per cent who just received the standard therapy. The study was funded by Novocure Ltd., the company that manufactures the device.