Glioblastoma News and Research

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Glioblastoma is the most aggressive and malignant form of glioma, a type of primary brain cancer. Surgery is often used to treat gliomas, along with radiation. However, since surgery and radiation fail to cure the disease, doctors may turn to additional radiation or chemotherapy. In early stages glioblastoma tumors often grow without symptoms and therefore can become quite large before symptoms arise. When the tumor becomes symptomatic, tumor growth is usually very rapid and is accompanied by altered brain function, and if left untreated the disease becomes lethal. Although primary treatment is often successful in temporarily stopping the progression of the tumor, glioblastomas almost always recur and become lethal.

Gene therapy shows promise in treating glioblastoma

A team from the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste has obtained very promising results by applying gene therapy to glioblastoma.

13 May 2016

Experimental therapy stops glioblastoma, high-grade gliomas in human cells and mouse models

Researchers report in the journal Cancer Cell an experimental therapy that in laboratory tests on human cells and mouse models stops aggressive, treatment-resistant and deadly brain cancers called glioblastoma and high-grade gliomas.

10 May 2016

Study reveals glioblastoma subtypes tend to develop in different regions of the brain

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have demonstrated that distinct types of glioblastoma, the most common form of brain cancer in adults, tend to develop in different regions of the brain. This finding provides an explanation for how the same cancer-causing mutation can give rise to different types of brain malignancies.

5 May 2016

OSMR gene plays key role in driving growth of glioblastoma tumors

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of brain tumor in adults. Unfortunately, there are no effective treatments for the disease. On average, patients succumb just 16 months after diagnosis.

27 Apr 2016

Scientists derive first molecular model of critical transporter at blood-brain barrier

Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School have derived a structural model of a transporter at the blood-brain barrier called Mfsd2a. This is the first molecular model of this critical transporter, and could prove important for the development of therapeutic agents that need to be delivered to the brain --- across the blood-brain barrier. In future, this could help treat neurological disorders such as glioblastoma.

25 Apr 2016

Scientists examine PD-1-expressing regulatory T cells in aggressive brain cancer

Immunotherapy represents an exciting advance in cancer treatment that harnesses the immune system to seek and destroy cancer cells.

22 Apr 2016

Researchers reposition existing prazosin drug to combat glioblastoma

Treatments available for glioblastoma—malignant brain tumors—have little effect. An international collaboration led by the Laboratoire Neurosciences Paris-Seine tested active ingredients from existing medications and eventually identified one compound of interest, prazosin, on these tumors. Not only did it seem to be effective in this type of cancer, but it also acted on a signaling pathway that is common with other cancers.

21 Apr 2016

Proteins can be used as targets to deliver drugs into stressed cancer cells

Targeted missiles that can enter cancer cells and deliver lethal cell toxins without harming surrounding healthy tissue. This has been a long-standing vision in cancer research, but it has proved difficult to accomplish. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now taken some crucial steps in this direction.

20 Apr 2016

Newly discovered player in epigenetic regulation closely linked to known cancer promoters

If genes form the body's blueprint, then the layer of epigenetics decides which parts of the plan get built. Unfortunately, many cancers hijack epigenetics to modulate the expression of genes, thus promoting cancer growth and survival.

19 Apr 2016

Penn researchers report results of CAR therapy trial in brain cancer patients

Immune cells engineered to seek out and attack a type of deadly brain cancer known as glioblastoma (GBM) were found to have an acceptable safety profile and successfully migrate to and infiltrate tumors, researchers from Penn Medicine and Harvard University reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016.

19 Apr 2016

Low-carbohydrate diet helps reduce growth of glioblastoma tumor cells in mouse models

University of Florida Health researchers have slowed a notoriously aggressive type of brain tumor in mouse models by using a low-carbohydrate diet.

16 Apr 2016

Compound from unique blue-green algae could be key to next anti-cancer drug

Could a slippery glob of algae hold the key to the next anti-cancer drug? According to new research into a compound produced by a unique community of blue-green algae, the answer could be yes.

7 Apr 2016

Altered metabolism of two essential amino acids helps drive development of glioblastoma

The altered metabolism of two essential amino acids helps drive the development of the most common and lethal form of brain cancer, according to a new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

2 Apr 2016

Researchers develop metastasis-on-a-chip system to advance cancer investigation, drug discovery

Advances in personalized medicine allow doctors to select the most promising drugs for certain types of malignant tumors.

24 Mar 2016

Tews Laboratory uses LaVision BioTec UltraMicroscope to study molecular mechanisms of tumor invasion

LaVision BioTec, developers of advanced microscopy solutions for the life sciences, report on the work in the Tews Laboratory which is studying the molecular mechanisms of tumor invasion using an UltraMicroscope for enhanced imaging of cells.

22 Mar 2016

Novel compound shows promise as potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia

A novel compound has shown promise in preclinical studies as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, more than doubling median days of survival even in a drug-resistant form of the disease.

21 Mar 2016

DelMar's VAL-083 receives FDA orphan drug designation for treatment of medulloblastoma

DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today that the FDA Office of Orphan Products Development (OOPD) has granted orphan drug designation for its lead product candidate, VAL-083, in the treatment of medulloblastoma.

15 Mar 2016

Expression of BIRC3 protein associated with poor survival, recurrent disease in GBM patients

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly aggressive brain tumor with low survival rates, with newly diagnosed patients surviving a median of 14 months and recurrent patients surviving a median of only 3 to 9 months. New therapeutic targets and biomarkers for prognosis are urgently needed.

7 Mar 2016

Study provides critical insight into Warburg effect

PGK1, a glycolytic enzyme, has been found to play a role in coordinating cellular processes crucial to cancer metabolism and brain tumor formation, according to results published in today's online issue of Molecular Cell. The findings may lay the groundwork for improved approaches to diagnosis and treatment of glioblastoma and other cancers.

4 Mar 2016

U-M researchers develop novel mouse model of children's brain cancer

Children with brain cancer may soon get some help from mice with the same disease, thanks to new research from University of Michigan Medical School scientists and their colleagues.

3 Mar 2016