Brain-Cancer Drug Approved

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the first significant new treatment for brain cancer in two decades - a drug that is inserted directly into brain tissue from which a tumor has been removed.

The new procedure fights malignant glioma, a fast-spreading type of cancer that affects about 8,000 people in America each year.

The disease has proved largely resistant to conventional treatments.

The new medicine, to be marketed as a wafer implant with the trade name Gliadel, could be given only to those for whom cancer recurs.

Tiny wafers containing the active ingredient, carmustine, are inserted into the brain cavity left when the tumor is removed.

The novel delivery system, according to the manufacturer, improves the drug’s effectiveness because it is delivered directly to the affected area instead of through the bloodstream.

The new treatment could help prolong life for at least one in five people afflicted with brain tumors.