Two new studies indicate that immunotherapy may benefit people with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LMD), a rare but serious complication of cancer that has spread to the brain and/or spinal cord. The research, which was led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute, is published in Nature Communications.
Although advances in cancer treatment have extended patient survival, some cancers come back, often in a different location in the body. This may in part help explain recent increases in the incidence of LMD—when tumor cells infiltrate the leptomeninges (layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal cord) and cerebrospinal fluid. Approximately 5–8% of all patients with cancer develop LMD after first being diagnosed with breast cancer, lung cancer, melanoma or other malignancies. Current treatment options rarely benefit patients with LMD, and there is an urgent need for new therapies.
