Professor Omar Pathmanaban

Leading the way on new treatment for meningioma

Brain tumour experts at Salford Royal have treated the first patient in the UK with a new investigational drug that it’s hoped will stop tumours progressing.

At present there are no drug treatments for progressive meningioma – a tumour that grows in the tissue surrounding the spinal cord and brain. Around one in 30,000 people have the rare genetic condition NF2-Related Schwannomatosis and they often have to undergo repeated surgery and radiotherapy to remove the tumours, which cause serious problems such as deafness, visual loss and paralysis.

Manchester Centre for Clinical Neurosciences at Salford Royal plays a key role in Manchester’s highly specialised NF2-SWN service, working closely with colleagues at the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, The University of Manchester and the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre.

Now it has become one of just 25 centres worldwide to offer the study of the drug REC-2822 to patients. Around 90 people will take part in the four-year research programme, taking tablets of REC-2822 in four-week cycles, with regular MRI scans, eye examinations and other tests.

The Chief Investigator for the study in the UK is Consultant Neurosurgeon Professor Omar Pathmanaban, who is also Strategic Development Lead at the Geoffrey Jefferson Brain Research Centre. The lead research nurse is Helen Christensen. The study is sponsored by Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a US-based clinical-stage biotechnology company

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