High-Dose Vitamin B3 Shows Early Promise Against Glioblastoma in Small Calgary Trial
In an interim analysis of a University of Calgary trial, 82% of 24 glioblastoma patients given controlled-release niacin alongside standard treatment had no cancer progression after six months. The researchers stress the results are preliminary.
Researchers at the University of Calgary report that 82% of 24 patients with glioblastoma who took high-dose vitamin B3 alongside standard treatment had no progression of their cancer after six months, according to the university. The team says that is a 28% improvement on results from earlier studies, but stresses the findings are preliminary.
The cancer usually returns after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy
Standard care for glioblastoma combines surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Surgeons remove as much of the tumor as they can, but its cells spread into surrounding brain tissue, and the cancer commonly comes back.
“Glioblastoma is the most aggressive brain cancer in adults. Survival of patients with this condition hasn’t changed significantly for 20-years.” — Gloria Roldan Urgoiti, oncologist and Clinical Associate Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
The aim is to revive immune cells the tumor suppresses
Roldan Urgoiti leads the trial with neuroscientist Wee Yong; both are members of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and the Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute. The approach grew out of mouse experiments in Yong’s lab, in which niacin, the form of vitamin B3 used here, extended survival. Patients receive controlled-release niacin together with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Glioblastoma can weaken the immune cells that might otherwise attack it. Yong said niacin “rejuvenates immune cells so they can do what they are supposed to do, attack and kill the cancer cells.”
The trial cleared its own bar but remains small
Before starting, the team set a stopping rule: the study would end if six-month progression-free survival failed to improve by at least 20% over older studies. The interim results, published in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology, cleared that threshold. Because the trial combines Phase I and Phase II, it is also still working out the highest dose that can be given safely.
The 28% figure compares these patients with results from earlier studies rather than with a control group in the same trial. The researchers hope to enroll 48 people in total and expect a final analysis by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
They also warn that high-dose niacin should not be considered harmless just because it is sold as a vitamin. Large amounts can be toxic, and the doses in the trial are controlled and monitored by doctors. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Alberta Cancer Foundation fund the work.
Like what you're reading?
Related stories
FDA Approves Pirtobrutinib for Newly Diagnosed CLL After a Trial Showed an 80% Lower Risk of Progression
The FDA has approved pirtobrutinib (Jaypirca) for adults with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia, after a 282-patient trial found it cut the risk of progression or death by 80% compared with chemoimmunotherapy.
More Than Half of Young Adults With Early Type 2 Diabetes Reached Remission in a 24-Week Diet and Exercise Trial
In a randomized trial of adults under 45, 54% of those on a low-calorie diet with supervised exercise reached type 2 diabetes remission at 24 weeks, versus 4% receiving usual care, researchers at McGill and Leicester report.
A Urine RNA Test Detected 95% of Localized Bladder Cancers and Predicted Who Would Respond to BCG
Stanford researchers' urine test, uRARE-seq, detected localized bladder cancer with 95% sensitivity at 90% specificity in 683 samples and flagged which patients were more likely to respond to BCG immunotherapy.
