NU2022-229
INVENTORS
Timothy Sita*
BACKGROUND
Glioblastoma (GBM) is a type of incurable brain tumor with poor prognosis. Despite a combination of treatments, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, most patients do not survive longer than two years following diagnosis. GBM and other types of brain tumors hijack our brain’s normal electrical circuitry to fuel their growth and spread throughout the brain, making them more resistant to radiation and chemotherapy. Northwestern researchers have developed a method utilizing electrical modulation to provide treatment of brain tumors. By applying an electrical stimulus to the brain of a patient with a brain tumor via bitemporal and/or unitemporal electrodes, the stimulus induces a therapeutic seizure that clinically lasts 10-120 seconds. The therapeutic seizure triggers an electrical network override, resetting and separating brain tumor networks from healthy brain tissue networks. Preclinical studies reveal that the neuromodulation technique can slow tumor progression and improve overall survival in mice bearing GBM patient-derived xenografts (PDXs). Additionally, electrical modulation permits passage of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier. Electrical modulation is a novel utilization of the electric signals of the central nervous system capable of treating GBM and other incurable brain tumors.
IP STATUS
A non-provisional patent application has been filed.