Electric brain cap helps survival rates in some cancer patients

A head cap for treating brain tumors has increased survival rates for patients, a recent study concluded.

The study was presented Sunday at the American Association for Cancer Research in D.C.

Patients with a particularly aggressive brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) wore a cap that delivers electrical fields to the brain. In conjunction with chemotherapy, the group that wore the cap had increased survival rates compared to a group that received the chemotherapy alone.

“The last time any form of treatment was shown to improve survival for patients with this disease was more than 10 years ago,” Dr. Roger Strupp, the lead author of the study, said in a release.

Taking place over five years, the study followed 695 patients, with 466 randomly chosen to be given the device, called “Tumor Treating fields,” or TTFields. The commercial name is Optune and was developed by NovoCure Ltd., which sponsored the study.

The cap sends electric fields over the brain and is intended to disrupt the cancerous cells from dividing.

Optune was approved by the FDA in 2015 as an expanded treatment with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. People diagnosed with GBM survive less than 15 months, the agency wrote in a press release.

“TTFields are an entirely new treatment modality,” Dr. Stupp said. “We need to continue to think outside the box to find other new treatments and then we need to learn how best to combine them with existing treatment modalities to ensure maximum patient benefit.”

For patients wearing the cap and undergoing chemotherapy, survival rates increased to 21 months, compared with 16 months for those only receiving chemotherapy.

The Associated Press reports that the cost of the treatment is $21,000 per month and that most insurance covers the treatment, except Medicare.

Novocure’s CEO Bill Doyle said the company picks up the tab.

“We are paying,” he told AP. “We’ve never refused a patient regardless of insurance status.”