New Research Promises Advances to Brain Cancer Treatment

The AHA! Team — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 08:23:36 +0000

Zachy Hennessey via Israel21c – By starving tumors of glucose, researchers may have found an innovative way of selectively killing cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. A team of researchers at Ben-Gurion University has unveiled a novel approach to treating brain cancer by targeting the survival mechanisms of tumor cells under glucose starvation. Their findings, published May 14 in Nature Communications, suggest that accelerating the metabolic processes of tumor cells during glucose starvation could cause them to quickly exhaust their energy supplies and die. Research head Prof. Barak Rotblat, along with co-lead researcher Gabriel Leprivier of the Institute of Neuropathology at University Hospital Düsseldorf, discovered that tumors have less glucose compared to normal tissue. The top priority of cancer cells might be survival rather than growth This observation challenges the belief that cancer cells are primarily focused on rapid proliferation. Instead, the researchers propose that the top priority of cancer cells might be survival rather than growth. Triggering a burst of growth under glucose starvation could lead to the cells running out of energy. Cells regulate their growth based on energy availability, synthesizing fats and proteins when energy is plentiful and halting these processes when energy is scarce to avoid burning out. Tumors are often in a state of glucose starvation. By identifying and disabling the molecular mechanisms that enable their survival under these conditions, the researchers aim to selectively target cancer cells while sparing healthy ones. New research promises advances to brain cancer treatment “We may be able to target just the cancer cells and not regular cells at all, which would be a very promising step forward on the path to personalized medicine and therapeutics that do not affect healthy cells the way chemotherapy and radiation do,” Rotblat explained. The team focused on the mTOR (Mammalian Target of Rapamycin) pathway, which plays a key role in regulating cell growth based on energy levels. They identified a protein within this pathway, 4EBP1, as essential for cells to survive glucose starvation. 4EBP1 inhibits the enzyme ACC1 in the fatty acid synthesis pathway, a mechanism that cancer cells exploit to thrive in low-glucose environments. “Our discovery about glucose starvation and the role of antioxidants opens a therapeutic window to pursue a molecule which could treat glioma [brain cancer],” Rotblat noted. The potential application of this research could extend to other types of cancers. Rotblat’s team is now collaborating with BGN Technologies (BGU’s tech-transfer company) and the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev to develop a molecule that will block 4EBP1. This intervention would force glucose-starved tumor cells to continue synthesizing fats, depleting their energy reserves and leading to cell death. The research highlights a new direction in the pursuit of cancer treatments that target cancer cells specifically, offering a potential alternative to conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation that affect healthy cells. To read the original article click here.

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Research Breakthrough Could Mean Better Treatment for Patients with Most Deadly Form of Brain Tumor

AHA Publisher — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 07:00:36 +0000

Queen Mary University of London via Newswise – Scientists studying the most common and aggressive type of brain tumour in adults have discovered a new way of analysing diseased and healthy cells from the same patient. Crucially, the work which has been funded by the charity Brain Tumour Research could pave the way for truly personalised treatment for patients diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Only 25% of patients with this type of brain tumour survive for more than one year and just 5% live for more than five years. A team at the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London has established an entirely new experimental research pipeline which, in a trial involving ten patients, has revealed new insights into how GBM develops, identifying potential new targets for individualised treatments. It could also help predict a patient’s response to drugs currently in clinical use for other diseases which would be extremely valuable as the average survival time for this type of brain tumour is just 12 to 18 months. Their paper, Comparative epigenetic analysis of tumour initiating cells and syngeneic EPSC-derived neural stem cells (SYNGN) in glioblastoma, is published in the high impact journal Nature Communications today (Thursday 21 October). Professor Silvia Marino, who leads the team, said: “We have used this powerful technique to identify changes in the function of genes that occur in GBM that do not entail a change in the genetic code (epigenetics). This has revealed new insights for how GBM develops and identified potential new targets for individualised treatments.” By using a combination of laboratory work and sophisticated analytical computer programmes, the team at Queen Mary has identified significant molecular differences which could be exploited to develop new treatments. It is an innovative approach enabling the comparison of normal and malignant cells from the same patient helping to identify genes that play a role in growth of the tumour. The research is particularly significant as GBM is the most common malignant brain tumour in adults. Its aggressive nature means it spreads extensively into surrounding brain tissue making complete removal by surgery almost impossible. It is extremely resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy meaning it is very likely to recur following treatment. Hugh Adams, spokesman for Brain Tumour Research, said: “The complex nature of this particular tumour type means that the standard of care for these patients has not changed in a generation so this research brings much-needed hope for the future. One of the main challenges in developing effective treatments for GBM is that the tumour exhibits significant variation between patients and there can even be significant variation within a single patient’s tumour. These variations can arise from change to the cell’s genetic code – known as mutations – combined with changes to how specific genes are controlled. “There is strong evidence that GBM cells develop from neural stem cells but previous studies have not been able to compare tumour cells and their putative cell of origin from the same person. Prof Marino and her team have now harnessed state-of-the-art stem cell technologies and next-generation DNA sequencing methods to compare diseased and healthy cells from the same patient. Their results have shown how this approach can reveal novel molecular events that appear to go awry when GBM develops, thereby identifying targets for potentially new treatments.” The results of the team’s work have shown how this approach can reveal novel molecular targets for potentially new treatments. For example, the results reveal how some GBM tumours can control the movement of regulatory T cells, a type of immune cell and has also revealed epigenetic changes that could be used to predict the response to drugs currently in clinical use. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure. The charity is calling for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs. www.braintumourresearch.org To read the original article click here.

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New Research Promises Advances to Brain Cancer Treatment

Research Breakthrough Could Mean Better Treatment for Patients with Most Deadly Form of Brain Tumor