2023-05-24 17:14:41
A newly discovered combined procedure by doctors at the University of Gothenburg prevents recurrence of the disease.
A new method by researchers at the University of Gothenburg kills glioblastomas, aggressive brain tumors. By blocking certain functions in the cell using a docked molecule, the scientists cause the cancer to die due to the stress. To deal with this, cancer cells hijack the mechanisms that healthy cells use to regulate the production of proteins and to process the excess proteins they make themselves. However, without these mechanisms taken over, the cancer cells would die.
cells destroy themselves
According to researcher Leif Eriksson, it has now been possible to stop this hijacking by inserting a specially developed molecule into the cells. This is how the cancer self-destructs. Using supercomputers and simulations, the team developed a version of the molecule that can also cross the blood-brain barrier, which protects brain tissue. This breakthrough was achieved in glioblastoma. This type of tumor accounts for around 45 percent of all brain tumors. In the EU alone, 19,000 cases occur every year. At present, the prognosis for those affected is very poor. Only a few percent of patients are still alive five years following diagnosis.
Investigations of the new method have brought promising results. A combination therapy with the new substance and chemotherapy was sufficient to completely kill the tumors and prevent the cancer from recurring. Since the tumors were subjected to such stress that they died, all of the cancer cells also disappeared. In animal experiments with mice, no recurrence of the disease might be detected even following 200 days. With treatments consisting solely of chemotherapy, the brain tumors returned following 100 days and started growing rapidly once more. According to Eriksson, this study is the first clear scientific evidence that brain tumors can be treated without surgery and radiation treatment.
So far no side effects visible
Current approaches to treating brain tumors often lead to severe side effects. According to the scientists, the new procedure has no side effects, at least in animal experiments. However, there are other types of brain tumors that develop differently than glioblastomas. The new procedure is not effective in these cases.
The current study was carried out with researchers from Inserm. The scientists have already started investigating the possible uses of the new substance in other types of aggressive tumors such as pancreatic cancer, triple-negative breast cancer and certain forms of liver cancer. Details were in iScience published.
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