Combination of radiation treatment and LY2109761 can prevent glioblastoma
March 31, 2017
The group transplanted human glioblastoma cells into the brains of mice and found that these animals, after receiving the combination therapy, survived longer than those animals treated by radiotherapy alone. Tissue studies showed that, under the combination therapy, tumors grew more slowly and less invasively and showed a lower density of newly formed blood vessels. "Paradoxically, radiation therapy can provoke aggressive growth behavior in surviving tumor cells. LY2109761 seems to prevent this fatal effect," says Huber, explaining how the drug seems to work.
Blocking of TGF-?? signaling produced such promising results that researchers will now conduct a multicenter clinical trial to find out whether this mechanism may also slow down glioblastoma growth in patients more effectively than the current standard treatment. Led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wick, who is head of a collaboration unit of DKFZ and the Neurology Department of Heidelberg University Hospitals, the combination therapy will be tested in Germany (Heidelberg), Spain, and the U.S.A.
Source: Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres