Links! Today was a good day for announcements in treatment for Glioblastomas. First, we started off with more awesome results from Novocure (Tom’s Optune device). Their stock prices surged too!

Combination of Optune™ with Standard of Care Chemotherapy, Temozolomide, Provides Landmark Five-Year Survival Rates for Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients

Next, I got an email from the National Brain Tumor Society regarding their Defeat GBM Research Collaborative. This is one of the reasons we support NBTS. There’s a lot of GBM trials in Phase III which is pretty remarkable and a due in large part to increased awareness and funding. I felt my hope surge today along with those stock prices that something promising on the horizon. 

Potential Glioblastoma Treatments Entering The Pivotal Phase of Evaluation

Also another plug for the Portland Brain Tumor Walk on August 6. My birthday casserole cook-off fundraiser raised $1090! You all are amazing and it’s because of people like you that the above progress is being made. The organizers would like to do an upcoming feature on Team Food Baby but it would be nice to have more than two members on the team before I say yes. You don’t have to do actually do the walk to join Team Food Baby but there is a $25 fee. I know it’s a busy weekend and I wish they’d stop putting it at the same time as other big events like the MS Ride. Here’s the link to sign up!
http://www.braintumorcommunity.org/site/TR/TeamraiserEvents/PortlandBrainTumorWalk?team_id=79557&pg=team&fr_id=2880
Tom starts another round of chemo tonight. We’ve definitely been seeing him get progressively more fatigued with each round but he has still managed to work full-time and make it to his spin class. Last month he told me after his workout he couldn’t remember why he felt so tired, then he remembered he was on his chemo! We’ve also enjoyed being more social as of late and cheating a wee bit on the keto diet with birthday cake and festivities. 
As always, thanks to all of you. It means so much to have you all in this with us.

http://www.braintumorcommunity.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=49954.0&dlv_id=48253

Updates-Tom has had a cold we’ve been trying to kick for nearly two weeks now. We thought we had it licked Sunday and he worked out yesterday and felt bad again last night and today. He’s supposed to start another chemo round tomorrow night but will re-evaluate that tomorrow. His labs have been good. Somehow I’ve got to make that guy rest! Overall he has been exercising a lot and doing well prior to the cold. 
Also here’s an from a newly diagnosed GBM patient that struck a note with me today. Attitude is everything.
http://www.dallasnews.com/life/life/2017/02/22/going-like-fireworks-reporter-investigates-illness-brain-cancer-glioblastoma

Team Food Baby is back for the 2017 Portland Brain Tumor Walk on August 6. Please consider joining us or making a donation!http://www.braintumorcommunity.org/site/TR/TeamraiserEvents/PortlandBrainTumorWalk?team_id=79557&pg=team&fr_id=2880

“They” never said that the week before an MRI scan is a special kind of hell. From co-workers exposing Tom to a nasty bug to a question on insurance coverage, we came into this scan more than a little frazzled. Luckily Tom didn’t get sick and the insurance got straightened out so that just left the big one.I make it a point to go to the scans to show Tom support, but also because if there is a recurrence, all the stories of others say the tech has the patient stay put and a doctor is called. I was sitting in the waiting room toward the end of the hour and the nurse who is running the MRI trial Tom was in came and sat next to me and gave me (what I interpreted as a concerned look) and asked how I was doing. I made small talk and caught her up on all things Tom and then the paranoia hit me that she was stalling until a doctor could come see us. Then she said she was hoping for a good outcome on his scan for him and left. Whew. And they let us leave. We didn’t get any early “it’s all clear” signs that we have gotten before the appt so we waited the 24 hours getting progressively more nervous. The resident checked Tom out and said he was doing great and said he was going to just now go look at the scan with the head neuro oncologist and would be back. 20 min later they finally came in with “looks good!”. Whew!!! It took them awhile because they were debating if the cavity where the tumor was had shrunk since the last scan. It takes awhile for a week of fear to leave your body but we are feeling pretty elated now. They even bumped Tom out to every 3 months for scans vs every 2 months so another good sign that things are moving in the right direction. Tonight Tom starts another round of chemo and tomorrow we see our favorite, Dr. Jerry. As always, thanks to all of you for your support and strength! I hope to have Team Food Baby up and running for this year’s Tumor walk by the end of the week!

When we started this journey, Tom sought out resources and he came home from the library armed with books. The book that caught my eye in the pile was Defy and Conquer by Mindy Elwell. She was fighting an astrocytoma (grade 3) but had a much harder go of it than Tom has had to date. Her book was the first “resource” we had for the Keto diet and her success with it. Her story and her spirit inspired me and we picked up lots of tips for talking to the doctors. I had taken to following her story along with two others-Adam Blain-author of Pear Shaped (glioblastoma) (hilarious) and Bryan Bishop author of Shrinkage (inoperable brain stem tumor) that hit a chord with us as he was diagnosed shortly after his engagement. Following these people, I share in their victories and try to glean whatever I can that may be useful to us in our own journey. Tom also corresponds with a blogger in New York who is about 6 months ahead of him from when she was diagnosed and is also using Optune and she’s been another great font of strength in all this.I had watched this past month or so as Mindy’s story took a turn for the worse and today learned that she had passed. She stretched her 18 month prognosis into three years with her loved ones.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=melinda-a-elwell-westerlind&pid=182628485&fhid=15218
My heart absolutely aches for her family and friends. (There is info in the obit about how to donate to a trust for her kids). I love that her legacy and story of love, hope and courage will live on and we will keep up our fight to honor her memory now too. 
Okay Mindy, we’ll keep fighting. So who else is out there that is beating this? Well I found this lady-a 16 year glioblastoma survivor (!!!) and a semi-local woman at that. 

Home Page

This woman is incredible. Her tumor keeps coming back and she keeps knocking it down each time. I’m really looking forward to reading her full story. 
And who knows? Maybe some day someone in our situation will look to Tom’s blog as a beacon of hope during their dark hours. If we’re really lucky, and if I can ever get him to sit still long enough, maybe we’ll even get a book out of him. 
Wish us luck for tomorrow. Results late Wednesday.

Long-Term Analysis of All 695 Patients Enrolled in Novocure’s Phase 3 Pivotal Trial in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Confirms Successful Interim Analysis Results and Demonstrates Superior Two- and Four-Year Survival RatesBUSINESS WIRE 4:00 AM ET 11/18/2016

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QUOTES AS OF 10:48:27 AM ET 11/18/2016

Patients treated with Optune® together with temozolomide demonstrated a significant increase in progression free and overall survival compared to patients treated with temozolomide alone
EF-14 patients treated with Optune together with temozolomide experienced a 70 percent improvement in survival rate at four years compared to patients treated with temozolomide alone
ST. HELIER, Jersey–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Novocure(NVCR) announced today that a long-term analysis of the full trial cohort from its phase 3 pivotal EF-14 trial of Optune® in combination with temozolomide for the treatment of newly diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) confirmed the superior survival results seen at interim analysis. The long-term analysis demonstrated superior two-, three- and four-year survival of patients treated with Optune together with temozolomide compared to temozolomide alone. The interim analysis results – published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 1 in December 2015 – showed significant extension of both progression free and overall survival in newly diagnosed GBM patients receiving Optune with temozolomide compared to temozolomide alone.
EF-14 Principal Investigator Roger Stupp, M.D., Professor at the University of Zurich and Director of Department of Oncology at the Zurich University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland, will present these late breaking results at the 21st Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) on Nov. 18, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“The analysis of the full dataset confirms the improvement in both progression free and overall survival we saw in the trial’s interim analysis, and demonstrates superior long-term survival,” Dr. Stupp said. “These mature results further validate Optune as a standard of care treatment option for glioblastoma, providing patients with a therapy that can extend their survival while maintaining their quality of life.”
“We are excited that Novocure’s long-term analysis of the EF-14 trial confirms the interim analysis results of superior overall and progression free survival, while providing new data on potential long-term survival benefits for newly diagnosed GBM patients,” said Elizabeth M. Wilson, President and CEO of the American Brain Tumor Association. “GBM patients need better treatment options, and it is a great day when new evidence shows that we are making progress in treating this disease.”
The long-term analysis of all patients (n=695) shows that:
· Patients treated with Optune together with temozolomide demonstrated a significant increase in median progression free survival (PFS) compared to temozolomide alone (median PFS of 6.7 months versus 4.0 months, respectively, hazard ratio=0.63, p=0.00005).

· Patients treated with Optune together with temozolomide demonstrated a significant increase in median overall survival (OS) compared to temozolomide alone (median OS from randomization of 20.8 months versus 16.0 months, respectively, hazard ratio=0.65, p=0.0006)

· The percentage of patients alive at two years in the Optune together with temozolomide arm was 43 percent compared to 30 percent in the temozolomide alone arm, a 43% increase in the chance of living two years.

· The percentage of patients alive at four years in the Optune together with temozolomide arm was 17 percent compared to 10 percent in the temozolomide alone arm, a 70% increase in the chance of living four years.

· Consistent with the interim analysis, the OS and PFS benefit of Optune together with temozolomide compared to temozolomide alone was seen across all patient subgroups tracked in the EF-14 trial, including patient age, performance status and tumor genetics.

· The safety profile in the long-term analysis was consistent with the interim analysis of the EF-14 trial.

“The long-term analysis further supports our data showing that Optune together with temozolomide is a better treatment option for newly diagnosed GBM patients compared to temozolomide alone,” said Asaf Danziger, Novocure’s CEO. “We believe these results will give health care providers further confidence in our therapy and transform the standard of care in newly diagnosed GBM. Our priority is to improve the lives of GBM patients, and we believe these results will help us to accomplish our mission.”

A few answers to questions we’ve been getting-How long does Tom wear the Optune device?

we’re currently approved for 6 months and then they will reevaluate

What’s next? another MRI and meeting with Dr. Jerry middle of next week. 
And a cartoon:

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/cancer