Scientists at the University of Sussex may have discovered a way to decrease the speed at which glioblastoma grows and strengthen potential treatments for the brain tumor. Glioblastoma is a common tumor found in adults. This aggressive tumor is often resistant to treatment, making it fatal.
In their new study, researchers have shown that differentiation therapy may be used to limit the growth of the tumors and turn off the malignant properties of cancerous cells. They suggest that an inhibitor drug known to target certain cell proteins may be used to make glioblastoma treatments more effective.
Professor Georgios Giamas of Cancer Cell and Rosemary Lane, a doctoral researcher at the institution, collaborated with scientists from the University of Southern California, Genentech, China’s Sun Yat-Sen University, Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Imperial College London on this study.
The researcher’s objective was to look into how differentiation therapy could be used to limit tumor growth. For their research, the scientists identified an inhibitor that targets the PDGFR protein and turns glioblastoma cancer stem cells and glioblastoma cells into neuronal-like cells, which decreases their invasion and proliferation abilities.
The group then demonstrated that treatment using drugs that belonged to the kinases family could enhance the effect of a chemotherapeutic medication used in the treatment of brain cancers, known as TMZ, or retemozolomide. Temozolomide has been designed to treat certain types of brain cancer, including anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma multiforme in patients diagnosed with tumors or those with recurring tumors. This drug belongs to a group of medications known as antineoplastics.
Giamas stated that limiting or slowing tumor progression helped make glioblastoma easier to treat using current strategies such as chemotherapies and surgery. He explained that new options for treating glioblastoma were urgently needed, noting that differentiation therapy had been suggested as an alternative that offered new hope to patients, medical professionals and researchers alike.
Giamas also highlighted that the research has not only identified a drug that improved the effectiveness of an existing cancer medication but also limited growth of tumors. The researchers believe that differentiation therapy holds promise as a treatment option for glioblastoma and may greatly benefit patients with this indication and help significantly improve their quality of life.
The researchers are currently focused on carrying out more studies in this area that may facilitate the advancement of therapies for this disease. The study’s findings were reported in the “Oncogene” journal.
Other entities such as CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are also engaged in seeking better treatments for brain cancers. These efforts being invested by different actors increase the odds of more effective treatments being discovered and approved by regulators.
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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