New treatment ‘cures’ aggressive brain cancer – stopping tumours in their tracks
A NEW treatment has been found to stop aggressive tumours in their tracker, experts have revealed.
Researchers in Virginia, US, said the development is 'promising' in the fight against brain cancer.
More than 11,000 people are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour in the UK each year - with at least 50 per cent of these being cancerous.
In the US it's the 10th leading cause of death in the country, with 18,280 adults developing the illness each year.
Writing in the journal , experts at VCU Massey Cancer Center said they used a previously unknown genetic process to target gliomas.
Gliomas are any cancer that begin in the glial cells of the nervous system.
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They are known to account for one third of brain tumours.
The most aggressive type is glioblastoma which is incurable and effects the brain.
Medics said they used epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR).
These acted like a chain of command through proteins to stimulate a specific function - the path the proteins took.
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The irregular activation can sometimes lead to disease including cancer, but the scientists targeted the EGFR signal and increased resistance to other therapies usually used on patients.
Study author Suyun Huang and chair in cancer research and member of the Cancer Biology research program at Massey, Paul Corman said: "Targeting EGFR has been regarded as a promising therapeutic strategy.
"However, the underlying cellular processes through which EGFR contributes to tumour growth are largely unknown."
Through their research, the team looked at a specific protein - ubiquitin-specific protease 16 (USP16).
This regulates the deterioration of the brain due to age and mitigates the growth of glioma cells.
The research from experts in the comes less than a month after experts at the Keck School of Medicine of USC found that circadian clock proteins - which control our natural rhythms, like when we wake up and when we fall asleep - could be involved in the growth of glioblastoma tumours.
These proteins may also explain why people often do not remain in remission after cancer treatment, and see their glioblastoma come back.
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Keck researchers identified a small molecule drug, called SHP656, that could be used to target those clock proteins and treat the devastating disease.
“In the vast majority of patients, the cancer returns. And when it returns, it’s resistant to chemotherapy and radiation,” said Professor Steve Kay at Keck.