Vorinostat
A recent study suggested that vorinostat also possesses some activity against recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, resulting in a median overall survival of 5.7 months (compared to 4–4.4 months in earlier studies). Further brain tumor trials are planned in which vorinostat will be combined with other drugs.
Alternating electric field therapy
Initial results of a Novocure-sponsored, phase-3, randomized clinical trial of TTF in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma were reported in November, 2014, and published in December 2015. Interim analysis showed a statistically significant benefit in median survival for patients treated with TTF plus conventional therapy (temozolomide, radiation, and surgery) versus patients treated with conventional therapy alone, a result which led the trial's independent data monitoring committee to recommended early study-termination. This was the first large-scale trial in a decade to show a survival benefit for patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. On the basis of these results, the FDA approved a modification of the trial protocol, allowing all patients on the trial to be offered TTF. Potential methodological concerns in this trial included the lack of a "sham" control group, raising the possibility of a placebo effect, and the fact that patients receiving TTFields received more cycles of chemotherapy than control patients. This discrepancy might have been a result of improved health and survival in TTF-treated patients, allowing for more cycles of chemotherapy, but also could have been due to conscious or unconscious bias on the part of clinical investigators. An expert clinical review called the preliminary results "encouraging".