A New Embolic Material Stops the Flow of Blood to Brain Tumors

NeoCast (Arsenal Medical, Waltham, MA), a solvent-free, nonadhesive liquid embolic material designed to stop blood flow to brain tumors, was shown to be feasible in providing complete occlusion of targeted vessels. The material was also shown to achieve safety endpoints. Results of the EMBO-01 clinical trial were presented at the Society of Neurointerventional Surgery (SNIS) Annual Meeting.

EMBO-01 is an open-label, multi-center, prospective clinical trial, in which 5 participants with extra-axial tumors supplied by ≥1 branches of the middle meningeal artery were treated via injection with NeoCast. The study met its primary safety endpoint, defined as freedom from device-related disabling stroke or neurologic death within 30 days of embolization. The primary feasibility endpoint was also met, with complete occlusion of the targeted vessels at or distal to the point of injection occurring as a result of successful injection of NeoCast to the targeted vessels before surgical resection.

Additionally:

• All 5 participants demonstrated complete tumor resection as graded by the surgeon.
• Treatment with NeoCast was associated with tumor devascularization of 88% (SD, +/- 7%).

“The product was easy to handle and performed consistently and reproducibly during injection while providing excellent visibility during and post-procedure, unlike currently available options,” said Lee-Anne Slater, MBBS MMed, Interventional Neuroradiologist at Monash Health and the Principal Investigator for EMBO-01. “Early results show that NeoCast has the potential to fill a treatment gap with a tool that’s straightforward for clinicians to use and will ultimately benefit patients; I am encouraged by its possibilities in other middle meningeal artery indications.”