Dr. Anthony Kim is now certified to prescribe Optune® for the treatment of newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma (GBM). This wearable and portable medical device is the first FDA-approved treatment in more than a decade for newly diagnosed GBM.

Optune is approved for the treatment of adult patients (22 years of age or older) with GBM. For recurrent patients, it can be used alone when surgery and radiation treatment options have been exhausted. For newly diagnosed patients, Optune is used with the chemotherapy temozolomide (TMZ) after surgery and radiation with TMZ. A large clinical trial showed that adding Optune to TMZ provided the greatest opportunity to live longer compared to TMZ alone at 5 years. Survival doubled at 5 years from 5% with TMZ alone to 13% by adding Optune. People in the study were also able to maintain their mental, emotional, and physical well-being longer than those on chemotherapy alone.

Optune creates low-intensity electric fields–called Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields)–which potentially slow or stop cell division leading to cell death. Because TTFields do not enter the bloodstream like a drug, they did not significantly increase TMZ-related side effects for newly diagnosed patients.  In clinical trials the most common device related adverse events were scalp irritation from device  use and headache.