question: Is cilengitide effective for treatment of glioblastoma?
answer: No, cilengitide does not improve survival of glioblastoma (GBM) patients. Cilengitide is a cyclic pentapeptide that demonstrated efficacy for GBM treatment by targeting the integrins avβ3 and avβ5 over-expressed on GBM cells. However, randomized phase III CENTRIC and phase II CORE trials explored failed to meet their primary endpoints. However, in CORE, higher αvβ3 levels in tumor cells were associated with improved progression-free survival by central review and with improved overall survival in patients treated with cilengitide. Analysis of randomized clinical trials of antiangiogenic drugs (including cilengitide) showed no improvement in overall survival and a trend for an inferior outcome, in terms of overall survival, in patients receiving antiangiogenic drug alone compared to cytotoxic drug alone.