http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=58498
NaturalProteinStopsDeadlyHumanBrainCancerInMice
ScientistsfromJohnsHopkinsandfromtheUniversityofMilanhaveeffectivelyproventhattheycaninhibitlethalhumanbraincancersinmiceusingaproteinthatselectivelyinducespositivechangesintheactivityofcellsthatbehavelikecancerstemcells.ThereportispublishedinNature.
Themostcommontypeofbraincancer-glioblastoma-ismarkedbythepresenceofthesestem-cell-likebraincells,which,insteadoftriggeringthereplacementofdamagedcells,formcancertissue.Stemcells,unlikeallothercellsinthebody,arecapableofformingalmostanykindofcellwhentheright"signals"triggertheirdevelopment.
Fortheirtreatmentexperiment,theresearchersreliedonaclassofproteins,bonemorphogenicproteins,thatcauseneuralstem-cell-likeclusterstolosetheirstemcellproperties,whichinturnstopstheirABIlitytodivide.
Firsttheypretreatedhumanglioblastomacellswithbonemorphogenicprotein4(BMP4),theninjectedthesetreatedcellsintomousebrains.Inmiceinjectedwithcellsthatwerenotpretreated,large,invasivecancersgrew.InthemicewithBMP4-treatedcells,nocancersgrewatall.Threetofourmonthsafterinjection,allmicethatgotuntreatedcellsdied,andnearlyallmicewithBMP4-treatedcellswerealive.
Next,thescientistsdeliveredslow-releaseBMP4-containing"beads"directlyintomousebrainswithimplantedglioblastomacells.Micethatgotemptybeadsdevelopedlargemalignanttumorsanddied.MicewithBMP4beadssurvivedmuchlonger,and80percentsurvivedfourmonthsaftercancercellimplants.
"OurideaistotreatpatientswithBMP4orsomethinglikeitrightaftersurgerytoremoveglioblastomainhopesofpreventingtheregrowthofthecancerandimprovingsurvivaltime,"saysAlessandroOlivi,M.D.,directoroftheDivisionofNeurosurgicalOncologyatHopkinsandacontributortothestudy.
OlivisaysclinicalstudiesusingBMP4couldbeginwithinayearand,ifsuccessful,drugtherapiescouldbeavailabletothepublicwithinthreetofouryears.
"ThiswasproofoftheideathatBMPscouldstopglioblastomabydepletingthestem-cell-likepopulationthatfeedsit,"saysHenryBrem,M.D.,chairmanoftheDepartmentofNeurosurgeryatHopkinsandacollaboratorinthestudy."Thisopensexcitingdoorstofutureresearchintotreatmentsandtherapiesforsuchadevastatingdisease."
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