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Scientists create drug that destroys deadly brain tumors

Scientists believe the drug could be introduced in clinical practice within five years.

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Hope for those with glioblastomas, the deadliest form of brain tumors. (Milad Fakurian via Unsplash)

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

A drug that destroys the deadliest brain tumors has been developed by scientists.

It passes through the blood-brain barrier that protects neurons from foreign invaders - wiping out cancerous cells.

Experiments found the small molecule killed them all - leaving healthy tissue alone.

Results were described as "very promising." The mice were cured - with no relapse after more than six months.

It works in combination with chemotherapy. Tumors quickly returned in peers given only the latter and spread rapidly.

Improved therapies are urgently needed for glioblastomas - which are often incurable.

The international team believes it could be introduced in clinical practice within five years.

The breakthrough has potential implications for other aggressive cancers.

(Mart production via Pexels)

Lead author Professor Leif Eriksson, of Gothenburg University, Sweden, said: "These are the first clear results with brain tumors that can lead to a treatment which completely avoids surgery and radiation.

"We have also begun studying the use of our substance on other aggressive tumor forms like pancreatic cancer, triple-negative breast cancer and certain liver cancers."

Approximately 14,000 cases of glioblastoma are diagnosed each year in the United States. Only about seven percent survive.

Glioblastoma killed President Joe Biden's eldest son Beau Biden in 2015 at the age of just 46.

Most patients succumb within two years and few make it past five - a statistic that hasn't improved in decades.

The drug, named Z4P, blocks a mechanism that fuels the tumor's protein production - causing cells to die of stress.

Cancer cells, especially those that form aggressive tumors, are out of control. To manage this pressure they hijack healthy cells.

Eriksson explained: "We have now succeeded in stopping this by inserting a specially developed molecule in the cells that inhibits one of these hijacked adaptive mechanisms in the cancer cells. This causes the cancer to self-destruct."

(Anna Shvets via Pexels)

Advanced simulations on supercomputers came up with a version that got it through the blood-brain barrier that prevents uptake of most pharmaceuticals.

Eriksson said: "Today cancer treatment consists of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Unfortunately, all cancer cells are not killed and the tumor returns.

"Once the cancer relapses the tumor cells have often spread and developed resistance."

The technique described in iScience does not apply to other forms of brain cancer because they develop differently.

Current treatments for brain tumors often have severe side effects. None were identified in Z4P.

The treated animals maintained weight, had no apparent changes in behavior and there was no sign of an impact on the liver.

Extensive lab tests on cells have shown the substance is non-toxic - even at very high doses.

Eriksson and colleagues are now optimizing the treatment procedure and planning additional animal studies.

But they are confident it should be able to arrive relatively quickly into clinical treatment.

Eriksson said: "It largely depends on whether funding comes in that allows taking the different steps as smoothly as possible.

"If I'm optimistic perhaps it might take five years. That's a short timeframe, but at the same time glioblastomas are nearly 100 percent fatal, so any improvement in medical care is major progress."

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