New target for therapy found in brain tumours

Researchers have found a potential target for therapy in a kind of adult brain tumour that promises to pave the way for treatment of other type of cancers as well, says a study.

Glioblastomas are the most common form of brain tumour in adults -- and the most aggressive. Because of the way the tumours invasively infiltrate the brain, spreading like ivy, they cannot be removed fully by surgery. There is no cure, and few patients survive more than two to three years even with aggressive treatment.

The University of Virginia Cancer Center (UVA) researchers, however, have identified a potential target they believe is essential to the glioblastoma cells. This vital enzyme, they believe, regulates cancer cell survival, proliferation, and tumour formation. Inhibit the enzyme, their work suggests, and the cancer cell dies, reports Science Daily.

"This is an exciting new target in cancer," said UVA's Benjamin W. Purow, M. "It seems to have potential not just for brain tumours but for other cancers as well. We think it has activity on its own, but also in combination with other cancer therapies."