Scientists Find Way To Eliminate Deadly Brain Tumors

He conducted a groundbreaking study at Tel Aviv University. Is glioblastoma, a deadly type of brain cancer, a thing of the past? Scientists have found a way to effectively eliminate glioblastoma.

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Fight Glioblastoma

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have found a way to "starve" aggressive glioblastoma tumors in mouse brains. They say it could eventually be a new way to fight deadly human cancer. Glioblastoma is the deadliest and most aggressive primary brain tumor in adults. GBM is a rare disease with a rate of 2-3 per 100,000. The average survival time is only 12-18 months, and only 5% of patients live more than five years after diagnosis. They came to their conclusion with a method that the researchers developed based on their discovery of two critical mechanisms in the brain that support tumor growth and survival. One of them protects cancer cells from the immune system, while the other provides the energy needed for rapid tumor growth. The study found that both mechanisms are controlled by brain cells called astrocytes, and in their absence, tumor cells die and are destroyed. The researchers explain:

Dr. Lior Mayo “We Take the Problem of Glioblastoma from a New Perspective”

Dr Lior Mayo, from the School of Cancer Research and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, said:

Animal Experiments Successful

Using an animal model in which they could eliminate active astrocytes around the tumor, the researchers found that the cancer in the presence of astrocytes killed all animals with glioblastoma tumors within 4-5 weeks. Applying a unique method to specifically destroy astrocytes near the tumor, they observed a striking result: The cancer disappeared within days and all the treated animals survived. It was also observed that most animals survived even after stopping treatment.

Destroying a Tumor by 'Starving' from its Energy Source

To answer these questions, the researchers compared the gene expression of astrocytes isolated from healthy brains and glioblastoma tumors. They found two main differences. So they determined the changes that astrocytes undergo when exposed to glioblastoma. The first change was in the immune response to glioblastoma.

With access to energy sources in the blood blocked by the blood-brain barrier, they must get this energy from cholesterol produced in the brain. We discovered that in the 'cholesterol factory' where astrocytes often provide energy to neurons and other brain cells, astrocytes surrounding the tumor increase cholesterol production and feed it to cancer cells. Since the tumor depends on this cholesterol as its main energy source, eliminating this source will starve the tumor. Dr. Mayo concludes: