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.

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals starts phase II pancreatic cancer trial

Rexahn Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that it has received FDA approval to begin Phase II trials for Archexin, the Company's leading cancer compound, for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

24 Mar 2009

Potential pathway for drug intervention

A newly identified molecular pathway that directs stem cells to produce glial cells yields insights into the neurobiology of Down's syndrome and a number of central nervous system disorders characterized by too many glial cells, according to a recent study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

15 Mar 2009

European Commission and US FDA approve intravenous formulation of temozolomide

Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE:SGP) today announced that the European Commission and the US FDA both approved the intravenous (IV) formulation of temozolomide as an alternative to the already approved oral form of the drug.

5 Mar 2009

Brain tumor treatment may increase number of cancer stem-like cells

A new study suggests that the standard treatment for a common brain tumor increases the aggressiveness of surviving cancer cells, possibly leaving patients more vulnerable to tumor recurrence.

5 Mar 2009

Angiogenesis inhibitors, study points to limitations, solutions

A new generation of cancer drugs designed to starve tumors of their blood supply - called "angiogenesis inhibitors"-succeeds at first, but then promotes more invasive cancer growth-sometimes with a higher incidence of metastases, according to a new study in animals.

2 Mar 2009

Mutations in two genes linked to most common brain cancers

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and Duke University Medical Center have linked mutations in two genes, IDH1 and IDH2, to nearly three-quarters of several of the most common types of brain cancers known as gliomas.

20 Feb 2009

Temozolomide sales reach $1 billion

Sales of Temozolomide, an anti-cancer drug developed by Cancer Research UK scientists, have reached $1 billion.

8 Feb 2009

Green tea may counteract anticancer effects of cancer therapy, bortezomib (Velcade)

Green tea products have become regarded as a valuable health supplement, as studies have shown evidence of its benefit against a variety of diseases, including cancer.

3 Feb 2009

TP53 gene variant may lead to early onset of brain tumor

People with a particular gene variant may be more likely to develop brain tumors, and at an earlier age, than people without the gene, according to a study published in the January 27, 2009, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

27 Jan 2009

Virotherapy treatment kills prostate cancer cells

A new study appearing in The Prostate has found that certain measles virus vaccine strain derivatives, including a strain known as MV-CEA, may prove to be an effective treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

21 Jan 2009

Toxin-nanoparticle combo inhibits brain cancer invasion while imaging tumors

Working with a nanoparticle designed to target and image glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, investigators at the University of Washington in Seattle have found that these same nanoparticles inhibit tumor cell invasion, one of the key events that leads to the metastatic spread of cancer. The investigators have also determined how the nanoparticles exert this potentially beneficial effect.

18 Jan 2009

Treatment may need to be modified for elderly glioblastoma patients

Glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive type of brain tumor, accounts for a majority of the brain tumors seen in patients 65 years or older.

14 Jan 2009

Gene therapy kills brain tumors through selective recruitment of immune cells

Scientists seeking to harness the power of the immune system to eradicate brain tumors face two major hurdles: recruiting key immune cells called dendritic cells into areas of the brain where they are not naturally found and helping them recognize tumor cells as targets for attack.

13 Jan 2009

A novel glioblastoma mouse model developed

Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a versatile mouse model of glioblastoma-the most common and deadly brain cancer in humans-that closely resembles the development and progression of human brain tumors that arise naturally.

5 Jan 2009

Discovery of molecule that targets brain tumors

UC Davis Cancer Center researchers report today the discovery of a molecule that targets glioblastoma, a highly deadly form of cancer.

30 Dec 2008

Barcode chip enables cheaper, faster blood testing

A new barcode chip developed by a multi-institutional team of investigators promises to revolutionize diagnostic medical testing. In less than 10 minutes and using just a pinprick's worth of blood, the chip can measure the concentrations of dozens of proteins, including those that herald the presence of diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

29 Dec 2008

Cellular reprogramming, the 'Breakthrough of the Year' according to AAAS

In its annual list of the year's top ten scientific breakthroughs, the journal Science has given top honors to research that produced "made-to-order" cell lines by reprogramming cells from ill patients.

18 Dec 2008

Breast cancer genome shows instability of cancer

A newly published genome sequence of a breast cancer cell line reveals a heavily rearranged genetic blueprint involving breaks and fusions of genes and a broken DNA repair machinery, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears online in the journal Genome Research.

15 Dec 2008

GUMC researchers find gene inactivated in two aggressive cancers

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found a gene they say is inactivated in two aggressive cancers - malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, and glioblastoma multiforme, a lethal brain tumor.

15 Dec 2008

Antineoplaston treatment for gliomas granted orphan drug designation by FDA

The Burzynski Research Institute, Inc. (BRI) has announced that its antineoplaston A10 and antineoplaston AS2-1 therapy (ANP) has been granted orphan drug designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for the treatment of gliomas. It is estimated that in 2008 more than 21,000 men and women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with this type of cancer, with prevalence estimated at approximately 84,000 cases.

2 Dec 2008