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Review
. 2022 Oct 29;14(21):5341.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14215341.

Medical Device Advances in the Treatment of Glioblastoma

Cher Ying Foo  1 , Nimrah Munir  2 , Ashwin Kumaria  3 , Qasim Akhtar  2 , Christopher J Bullock  2 , Ashwin Narayanan  2 , Richard Z Fu  2   4   5
Affiliations
Review

Medical Device Advances in the Treatment of Glioblastoma

Cher Ying Foo et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Despite decades of research and the growing emergence of new treatment modalities, Glioblastoma (GBM) frustratingly remains an incurable brain cancer with largely stagnant 5-year survival outcomes of around 5%. Historically, a significant challenge has been the effective delivery of anti-cancer treatment. This review aims to summarize key innovations in the field of medical devices, developed either to improve the delivery of existing treatments, for example that of chemo-radiotherapy, or provide novel treatments using devices, such as sonodynamic therapy, thermotherapy and electric field therapy. It will highlight current as well as emerging device technologies, non-invasive versus invasive approaches, and by doing so provide a detailed summary of evidence from clinical studies and trials undertaken to date. Potential limitations and current challenges are discussed whilst also highlighting the exciting potential of this developing field. It is hoped that this review will serve as a useful primer for clinicians, scientists, and engineers in the field, united by a shared goal to translate medical device innovations to help improve treatment outcomes for patients with this devastating disease.

Keywords: GBM; Glioblastoma; blood-brain barrier (BBB); brachytherapy; convection enhanced delivery (CED); electric field therapy (EFT); laser interstitial therapy (LIT); magnetic hyperthermia; medical device; photodynamic therapy (PDT); sonodynamic; ultrasound.

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Conflict of interest statement

R.Z.F. and C.J.B. are co-founders of and shareholders in QV Bioelectronics Ltd., a U.K. based start-up developing ‘GRACE’, a surgically implanted electric field therapy device for the treatment of glioblastoma. N.M., Q.A. and A.N. are employees of QV Bioelectronics Ltd. C.Y.F. and A.K. have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Historical timeline of the emergence of medical devices as therapeutic modality for GBM.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Current and emerging medical devices for the treatment of GBM.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Medical devices used to circumvent/disrupt BBB: (A) Convection enhanced delivery (B) Focused ultrasound mediated blood-brain barrier opening. Created with BioRender.com accessed on 3 October 2022.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Medical devices delivering novel non-invasive anti-tumour therapeutic modalities: (A) Sonodynamic therapy (B) Magnetic Hyperthermia (C) High intensity focused ultrasound and (D) Electric field therapy. Created with BioRender.com accessed on 3 October 2022.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Medical devices delivering novel invasive anti-tumour therapeutic modalities: (A) Carmustine wafers (B) Brachytherapy (C) Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (D) Photodynamic therapy and (E) Implantable Electric Field Therapy. Created with BioRender.com accessed on 13 October 2022.
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