The following is a transcript of a report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks that first aired Oct. 18, 2007, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.

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There is new hope for brain cancer patients with the poorest prognosis.

Patients with a particularly deadly tumor could survive longer with a drug that chokes off a tumor's blood supply.

If you've never heard of glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, consider yourself lucky. It's a relatively rare but deadly tumor that generally kills patients within six to 15 months of diagnosis.

At the Hillman Cancer Center in Shady Side, researchers are always trying to find ways to extend the lives of patients, and they think they have found a good way with a combination therapy.

When Avastin and Irinotecan are combined, they prolong survival of GBM patients, researchers said.

"Approximately 50 percent of patients haven't progressed in six months," said Dr. Frank Lieberman.

And nearly 80 percent are still alive six months after diagnosis, which is a significant change from the norm.

Traditionally, fewer than 30 percent of GBM patients live one year. With standard therapies, 75 percent have tumor progression within six months. Fewer than 50 percent are alive after six months.

Doctors around the nation are now trying the Avastin combination on patients with recurrent GBM. Every one reports seeing their patients live longer, some up to a year. Further studies are under way.

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