This sugar-coated therapy boosted survival against deadly brain cancer by 50% in mice
A new experimental treatment may have found a way to outsmart glioblastoma’s toughest defense: the blood-brain barrier.
A new experimental treatment may have found a way to outsmart glioblastoma’s toughest defense: the blood-brain barrier.
The short version
- Researchers used sugar-coated nanoparticles to ferry genetic instructions that restore a key tumor-suppressing protein directly into brain cancer cells.
- In mouse studies, the therapy increased median survival by 50% while shrinking tumors without noticeable damage to other organs.
- Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a promising experimental strategy for treating glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.
What happened
Fewer than 30% of patients survive for two years after diagnosis. The work, led by Oleh Taratula, Olena Taratula and Yoon Tae Goo of the OSU College of Pharmacy, focuses on two major problems that have long limited glioblastoma treatment.
Why it matters
First, therapies must cross the blood-brain barrier, a tightly controlled network of cells that protects the central nervous system from substances circulating in the bloodstream.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at ScienceDaily — Top Science via the links above and below.