Shares of Novocure (NASDAQ: NVCR) were jumping 7.6% higher as of 10:42 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The nice gain came after the company announced that Health Canada approved Optune for treating newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Canada represents a significant market opportunity for Novocure. Around 1,600 people in the country are diagnosed with GBM each year. 

Optune uses electric fields called tumor treating fields (TTFields) to disrupt the division of tumor cells. In Novocure's pivotal EF-14 clinical study, patients treated with Optune, in combination with temozolomide chemotherapy, achieved an overall survival of 20.9 months, compared to 16 months for patients treated with temozolomide alone.

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Source Fool.com