Summary of work PICI scientists at UCLA found that for patients with a deadly form of brain cancer called glioblastoma, treatment with the checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab before surgery nearly doubled median survival time. “These results are very encouraging,” said senior author Robert Prins, PhD, a Parker Institute investigator at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. “It’s one of the few times we’ve seen positive survival results using immunotherapy in this type of brain cancer.” Why this is impactful to patients “It’s imperative to find therapies for glioblastoma, and fast,” said Samantha Bucktrout, PhD, PICI director of research. “This groundbreaking study not only doubled survival time for this devastating disease but provided key insights into why the neoadjuvant application of anti-PD-1 therapy translated to clinical benefit when therapy following surgery didn’t.”