VIDEO: Potential of immunotherapy, technological advances in glioma field

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So, you know, I think we've seen examples of the investment and the success of molecular biology and genomics in the definition of oncogenic drivers of particular kinds of gliomas and development of drugs for those oncogenic drivers. Again, we're gonna have, we have some approved drugs now.

So that will continue, I think, and we'll learn more as these drugs get approved. We'll learn why some tumors are not responsive to them. We'll learn why some tumors are initially responsive, but then not in, you know, then escape in the future. And as we learn more about molecular underpinnings of those observations, we'll learn then to potentially add to those drugs, to make better drugs that address some of these resistance mechanisms that will ultimately emerge, you know, in these patients treated with these targeted therapies.

So that's kind of genomics and targeted therapy. I'd say immunology is really moving quickly in terms of the basic immunology of gliomas and better understanding it, better understanding the immune microenvironment of these tumors. To date, we have not had a successful immunotherapy tested. We've tested many, we've not had a successful outcome of immunotherapy yet for gliomas, but I think that will change that in the future.

And there are many different kinds of immune approaches, either vaccines or CAR T cells or immune checkpoint inhibitors and others. So I think we'll see more studies done in that space over the next few years as well. And I think we'll continue to also see refinements in technology so that we, our surgeons have better tools at their disposal to do safer, more extensive resections, and that our radiation techniques continue to improve as well. And again, really trying to focus the radiation on the tumor and avoid injury to the surrounding brain. So I think those technologies also will continue to advance.