Neuro-oncologists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Jiaotong University have found a new treatment that inhibits glioblastoma growth.
Researchers led by the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Dr. Ichiro Nakano and the Xi'an Jiaotong University's Dr. Maode Wang found a way glioma stem cells are maintained inside molecules, and they experimented to see it could be used in treating glioblastoma. The scientists created a small molecule inhibitor that they tested to see if could be used as a therapeutic target in glioblastoma.
The group conducted the test after it found that an another inhibitor of cancers that were past early stages, called OTS167, did not work in treating glioblastoma in another experiment.
Nakano's research facility unveiled that NEK2, kinase enzyme, grew following OTS167 treatment. Researchers then built a different inhibitor, CMP3a, via computer to slow growth in pre-clinical models. They experimented with CMP3a, which revealed that the CMP3a prevented glioblastoma from getting bigger in mice.
When the CMP3a was used with radiation, researchers unveiled that the combination kept glioblastoma from getting bigger in culture.
