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A research group headed by Professor Pirjo Laakkonen at the University of Helsinki has found a weakness in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)
Glioblastoma is the most prevalent and also the most lethal type of brain tumour in adults, with no curative treatment currently available. Glioblastomas cannot be surgically completely excised, as the tumour cells are adept at invading tissues and spreading around the brain. In addition, glioblastoma cells are extremely resistant to existing drug therapies.
[...] "Our new research revealed that glioblastoma cells depend on the expression of a gene which produces the MDGI protein. Inhibiting the function of this gene results in the death of the tumour cells," Laakkonen explains.
Using existing drugs with known safety profiles is beneficial in bringing new treatments to market. In this case
What makes this finding particularly interesting is that cell death caused by leakage in the lysosomes of glioblastoma cells can be activated by using drugs that cross the blood-brain barrier. In their studies, Laakkonen's group used an antihistamine known as clemastine.
[...] "Our findings demonstrate that antihistamines and other drugs that increase the permeability of the lysosomal membrane can be considered as an enhancing therapy for patients with glioblastoma alongside established treatments," Laakkonen says.
One can hope that in the not too distant future the phrase 'no curative treatment currently available' will be just a little less common.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 12 2019, @05:11PM (5 children)
Odd they don't mention what is happening to the other cells.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday May 12 2019, @05:55PM (4 children)
As it is only the glioblastoma cells that depend on the gene, inhibiting the function of this gene results in the death of the tumour cells. I suspect that they don't care if it kills other tumour cells too. As normal cells do not depend on the gene I cannot think why they should be affected. Although the effect on normal cells is not categorically stated in TFA I don't think that it is because nobody has checked to see what is happening to them.
Are you suggesting something along the lines of "the treatment was successful and the patient died"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 12 2019, @06:00PM (3 children)
Yes. I didn't read the whole paper but what I saw was they "silenced" the gene from glioblastoma cells in a cell culture and then injected them into the brains of mice. They saw that if the gene was "silenced" there was no tumor later. But of course there is no reason to cut out a brain cancer just to reinject it back in to the patient.
Then they showed cell culture results where the same dose that kills all the tumor cells after 4 days also kills at least ~50% of the other cell lines they check.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday May 12 2019, @06:12PM
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Sunday May 12 2019, @06:17PM (1 child)
Reading the paper again more fully, the mechanism that is used to fight the glioblastoma cells is rather more complicated than I thought after my first reading. I think that they have all the bases covered:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 12 2019, @06:27PM
The lysosomal membrane is going to be in all cells, not just tumor cells. And here is what they say about it:
1) You want to give a dose that kills all the tumor cells or else the tumor will evolve resistance
2) They say "no significant cell death" at 1-2 ug/ml but their figure 6 shows different. Eg, 50% of the NHA cells were dead by day four. Also, this is only looking out to 4 days, the patient is expected to live much longer than four days and will not want all their brain cells killed.