Nottingham University Researchers Find Way to Make Brain Cancer Cells Self-Destruct

September 20, 2023 11:07:12

Nottingham University researchers have devised a novel means of treating brain cancer that could signal a “quantum leap” in brain-tumor treatments moving forward.  A multidisciplinary research team created a new way of targeting and eliminating cancer cells in typically hard-to-treat types of brain tumors that cause cancer cells to essentially self-destruct.

This technique involves leveraging bio-nanoantenna, extremely tiny gold particles (nanoparticles) coated with redox active molecules that are specialized to bring about programmed cell death (apoptosis). Upon electrical stimulation, bio-nanoantenna can induce the self-destruction of brain tumor cells, giving physicians a potential treatment option with much higher chances of better health outcomes.

Under Nottingham University’s School of Pharmacy’s leadership, the research team specifically focused on glioblastoma, an extremely hard-to-treat type of brain cancer with an average life expectancy of only 14 to 16 months after diagnosis. Research shows that 6.8% of patients survive for five years after being diagnosed with glioblastoma while only 1% survive for 10 years after diagnosis.

As glioblastoma is among the most aggressive types of brain cancer, and it doesn’t respond to most brain-cancer treatments, scientists across the globe are constantly working to develop safer and more effective treatments for glioblastoma. Researchers used bio-nanoantenna to target glioblastoma cells in the brain without harming any adjacent healthy cells, giving physicians an unparalleled level of precision and potentially allowing them to treat brain cancers with no adverse effects on the patient.

Brain cancers such as glioblastoma are incredibly hard to treat via conventional means, including surgery and radiation, because their proximity to critical neural cells calls make it difficult to achieve a very high degree of precision to avoid damaging any healthy cells. With this new type of treatment, however, surgeons can be much more precise while removing glioblastoma cells during brain cancer surgery by injecting or spraying the bio-nanoantenna.

The multidisciplinary team may have been the first to leverage quantum signaling to fight cancer, publishing its groundbreaking findings in the journal “Nature Nanotechnology.”

According to experts from the Schools of Physics and Medicine, Engineering, and Pharmacy, the nanoparticles “create a symphony of electrical signals” that cause cancer cells to self-destruct. With their groundbreaking findings at hand, the researchers are now working to develop their technology for mass application.

The team has filed patents for the bio-nanoantenna technology, secured funding for MRC impact acceleration, and has begun translating the novel treatment option for clinical applications.

While the research has delivered encouraging findings in glioblastoma cell models, further studies are necessary to determine the technology’s safety and effectiveness in humans.

Given that many companies, including CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP), are also focused on finding better therapeutics for cancers affecting the brain, the future looks brighter because all these efforts are likely to yield improvements in the way these cancers are treated.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP

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