MIT biologists have discovered a fundamental mechanism that helps brain tumors called glioblastomas grow aggressively. After blocking this mechanism in mice, the researchers were able to halt tumor growth.
MIT biologists have discovered a fundamental mechanism that helps brain tumors called glioblastomas grow aggressively. After blocking this mechanism in mice, the researchers were able to halt tumor growth.
The researchers also identified a genetic marker that could be used to predict which patients would most likely benefit from this type of treatment. Glioblastoma is usually treated with radiation and the chemotherapy drug temozolamide, which may extend patients’ lifespans but in most cases do not offer a cure.
“There are very few specific or targeted inhibitors that are used in the treatment of brain cancer. There’s really a dire need for new therapies and new ideas,” says Michael Hemann, an associate professor of biology at MIT, a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and a senior author of the study.
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Image Credit: National Cancer Institute/Yale Cancer Center. Edited by MIT News.
