The Ice-Cap trial conducted by the scientists demonstrated the use of two combined drugs Ipatasertib and Roche’s immunotherapy agent atezolizumab to treat glioblastoma, an advanced brain cancer. The previous brain cancer treatments, especially immunotherapy have not worked well due to the fact that tumors in the brain are able to evade the immune system in complex ways. This combination drug for brain cancer is expected to be a game-changing treatment option for people with glioblastoma having poor survival rates.   

Ten patients were enrolled in the phase I trial. Two of the patients responded to the immunotherapy agent atezolizumab combined with ipatasertib, which may be able to uncloak the tumor in the immune system. Most of the patients chosen for the trial had tumors with defects in a gene called Pten – and in four cases, including the two who responded so well, the Pten gene did not function at all. Ipatasertib blocks a molecule called Akt. The scientists who presented their findings to the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting say growth signals involving Akt are used by cancers that lack a functioning Pten gene to grow and spread, which explains why patients with Pten defects might benefit most from the combination.

Researchers from The Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, in particular, saw signs of efficacy in patients with PTEN mutations. While it’s “unusual to see such positive clinical responses” at this stage of a clinical trial, the findings are still preliminary, and further testing is required before any conclusions can be drawn for this combination drug for brain cancer treatment, according to ICR.