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October 2020: 81 people have been randomised into the study. New recruitment was suspended due to Covid-19, but has now reopened & the study is the biggest ever brain cancer recruiting trial in the UK. Standard treatment usually involves surgery if possible, to remove the tumour, often followed by radiotherapy & chemotherapy. Dr Paul Mulholland is a consultant medical oncologist at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (part of UCLH Trust). He is very optimistic about new treatments including immunotherapy for treating glioblastoma. An immunotherapy drug, ipilimumab has been approved for use in patients with advanced melanoma and brain metastases (secondary tumours). More than 18% of patients who received this immunotherapy drug in a clinical trial were alive after five years compared to only 8% who did not. 

June 2019:  The trial involves seven UK sites: Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, Guy’s Hospital, London, Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, Northwood, The Christie, Manchester, University College Hospital,  London and Western General Hospital, Edinburgh. 

Dr Mulholland and team have set up a trial called IPI-GLIO to investigate the addition of ipilimumab immunotherapy to the current standard of care. This involves 120 patients recruited across seven UK sites over an 18-month period. 80 patients will be randomly allocated to receive standard treatment plus ipilimumab and 40 patients will receive standard treatment alone.  The phase II trial has been part-funded by The National Brain Appeal. It is sponsored & run by the University of Oxford. Bristol-Myers Squibb also contributed in part funding the study. The study has support from the National Institute for Health Research University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre.