Glioblastoma is a common and aggressive type of cancer that occurs in the spinal cord or brain. This cancer is almost twice as likely to affect males and is mostly found in adults. About 12,000 individuals are diagnosed with this cancer in the United States annually. Patients diagnosed with this cancer usually experience many symptoms, including changes in personality, memory loss, persistent headaches and seizures. Now new research has found an association between glioblastoma patient survival outcomes and translocator protein 18 kDa, which is a neuro-inflammation biomarker.
This discovery could help the medical and scientific community better understand why glioblastoma is more fatal in men than in women. The research, which was reported in the September issue of the “Cancers” journal, was conducted by researchers from the National Cancer Institute, the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute and the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, at the Florida International University.
The study’s discovery suggests that a variation in the structure of this protein corresponds with worse survival outcomes in males. The median rate of survival is 12 to 14 months, with data showing that only about 6% of patients live for more than five years.
The study’s corresponding author, Diana Azzam, an assistant professor from Stempel College, stated that this observation highlighted that glioblastoma had differences that were sex specific. She explained that glioblastomas were more frequent in males, noting that this discovery could assist in the development of personalized treatments for the fatal cancer.
For their study, the researchers conducted an analysis of blood samples collected from more than 400 female and male patients to assess the link between the clinical outcomes of patients with glioblastoma and the translocator protein 18 kDa polymorphic variant rs6971. They found that male patients with the variant had progression-free rates of survival in comparison with female patients with glioblastoma. They also found no link between survival time and the variant in females. This suggests that the variant could be used as a prognostic variable for patients with glioblastoma.
Tomás Guilarte, senior author of the study, stated that the translocator protein 18 kDa was highly expressed in glioblastomas he had studied for more than two decades. The professor, who is also the dean of Stempel College, noted that he hoped the study would help discover better treatments for this deadly cancer and, in the future, a cure. Currently, the disease has no cure, which highlights the need for better strategies and treatments that improve patient prognosis.
The growing body of information about how different brain cancers develop is likely to boost the efforts of companies such as CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) that are seeking for better remedies for patients diagnosed with these rapidly growing tumors.
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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