Brain Cancer Treatment: 5 Shocking Facts About the CAR-T Cell Therapy That Made Tumors Vanish
Brain cancer treatment reached a remarkable milestone when a 50 year old man with glioblastoma — one of the deadliest forms of brain cancer — saw all of his tumors disappear following a novel immunotherapy approach. The case, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, represents a significant advance in the use of CAR-T cell therapy for solid tumors and opens new possibilities for brain cancer treatment beyond what was previously considered achievable.
The treatment was administered at City of Hope, a cancer center in Duarte, California, under the leadership of Dr. Behnam Badie, neurosurgery chief at the institution. Dr. Badie described the patient’s response as remarkable and said it opens the door to wider clinical testing.
What Is CAR-T Cell Therapy and How Does It Apply to Brain Cancer Treatment?
CAR-T cell therapy involves removing a patient’s own T cells — a type of immune cell — and genetically modifying them in a laboratory to recognize and attack cancer cells. The modified cells are then returned to the patient’s body, where they seek out and destroy the tumor.
This brain cancer treatment approach has already shown significant success in blood cancers such as leukemia. However, its value for solid tumors — including brain tumors — has remained largely unknown until now. The City of Hope trial represents one of the most advanced efforts to apply CAR-T cell therapy to glioblastoma, a cancer for which survival is often measured in weeks after recurrence.
The Patient: Richard Grady’s Journey Through Brain Cancer Treatment
Richard Grady, a Seattle resident, was diagnosed with glioblastoma and initially received standard treatment including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. When the cancer returned, he enrolled in a clinical trial at City of Hope and began an experimental brain cancer treatment protocol using modified T cells.
His case became the first in which CAR-T cells were delivered through a tube placed in the brain cavity where spinal fluid is produced — a delivery method designed to allow the cells to travel along the same pathways the cancer had used to spread to his spine.
5 Shocking Facts About This Brain Cancer Treatment Breakthrough
Fact 1: All Tumors Disappeared After the 10th Treatment
The most dramatic outcome in this brain cancer treatment case was the complete disappearance of all tumors after Grady’s 10th infusion of modified T cells. After just three treatments, all tumors had already shrunk dramatically. By the 10th, they were gone entirely.
Grady was able to reduce his use of other medications and return to work — an outcome that stands in stark contrast to the typical prognosis for recurrent glioblastoma, where survival of even a few months is considered a success.
Fact 2: The Delivery Method Is Entirely New in Brain Cancer Treatment
The innovation in this brain cancer treatment approach is not only the use of CAR-T cells but the specific way they were delivered. Rather than injecting the cells directly into tumor tissue or administering them intravenously, doctors placed a second tube in a cavity in Grady’s brain where spinal fluid is produced.
The spinal fluid then carried the modified T cells through the pathways of the central nervous system — precisely the route the cancer had taken to spread to his spine. This method of delivery may allow CAR-T cell therapy to reach tumors throughout the brain and spine that would otherwise be inaccessible.
Fact 3: The Response Lasted More Than 7 Months
For a patient with recurrent glioblastoma, a sustained response to any brain cancer treatment is extraordinary. Grady’s response to the immunotherapy lasted more than seven months, and he has now survived more than a year and a half since beginning treatment — a timeline that Dr. Badie described as amazing given that survival in such situations is often measured in weeks.
New tumors have since emerged in different parts of his brain and spine, and he is currently receiving radiation treatment. But the duration and depth of his response to the CAR-T cell brain cancer treatment demonstrates that this approach can produce meaningful, real world benefit even in the most difficult cases.
Fact 4: Side Effects Were Manageable
One of the persistent concerns about aggressive cancer treatments is the severity of side effects. In this brain cancer treatment case, side effects were described as manageable. Grady experienced headaches, fatigue, and muscle aches — some of which may have been related to other medications he was receiving concurrently rather than to the CAR-T therapy itself.
This tolerability profile is encouraging for future trials, as it suggests that spinal fluid delivery of CAR-T cells does not necessarily produce the severe neurological side effects that might be expected from a treatment administered directly into the brain.
Fact 5: The Approach May Work for Other Cancers That Spread to the Brain
Perhaps the most significant implication of this brain cancer treatment breakthrough is its potential applicability beyond glioblastoma. Because the delivery mechanism uses the spinal fluid pathways of the central nervous system, it may be well suited for other cancers that commonly spread to the brain — including breast cancer and lung cancer.
Dr. Donald O’Rourke, a neurosurgeon leading a similar CAR-T cell study at the University of Pennsylvania, called the City of Hope findings striking and noted that his own research has produced similarly notable results. Multiple institutions are now actively pursuing this direction in brain cancer treatment research.
What Comes Next
At City of Hope, nine patients have been treated in the trial so far, with three receiving infusions into the spinal fluid cavity. Two of the nine have not responded to treatment. Larger studies will be needed to determine which patients are most likely to benefit and to refine the delivery protocols for this brain cancer treatment approach.
The study has been supported by the Gateway for Cancer Research, the FDA, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and the National Institutes of Health.
For more information on active brain cancer treatment trials, visit ClinicalTrials.gov and the National Brain Tumor Society.
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At FOMAT Medical, we support Phase I through Phase IV clinical studies across multiple therapeutic areas throughout the United States, including oncology research. Advances in brain cancer treatment depend on clinical trial participation from patients willing to help push the boundaries of what medicine can achieve.
If you or someone you know may be interested in joining an active clinical study, explore our currently available trials.