Such is the finding of a Duke University Medical Center pilot study in which the researchers tested the effectiveness of Avastin in conjunction with a standard chemotherapy agent in patients with recurrent cancerous brain tumors called gliomas.

…found that the two drugs together halted tumor growth up to twice as long as comparative therapies.

Though gliomas remain incurable in nearly all cases, the combined drug therapy may buy precious time and preserve physical and mental function longer for patients facing this grim diagnosis.

Avastin, a product of Genentech, is new type of drug that shrinks cancerous tumors by cutting off their blood supply.

Find more details from the full report.

Post from: Blisstree

Lung and Colorectal Cancers Drug Avastin: Found to Extend Survival in Patients with Deadly Gliomas

Malignant gliomas are least affected by chemotherapy and radiation. Patients only survive a year after diagnosis.

Shedding light into this seeming hopeless, fatal condition, Lund University (Sweden) research suggests that stem cells from the brain can be developed to treat gliomas.

Using the following theories:

• Neural stem cells have been shown to have the ability to recognize signals from tumor cells in the brain and migrate there.
• If stem cells are injected into a part of the brain in laboratory animals with a glioma in another part of their brain, the stem cells migrate over to the tumor area.This has spawned the idea of having stem cells transport drugs or immune stimulants to the tumor.

…the researchers found that the stem cells themselves had anti-tumor properties. As described by Karin Staflin in her dissertation (entitled: Neural progenitor cells in malignancy and injury of the brain: A Trojan horse for gliomas?):

“We were truly amazed when we saw this effect! To be sure about the phenomenon, we ran several experiments with other stem cells, and it was confirmed that certain neural stem cells actually have an anti-tumor.

Cells in aggressive malignant cancer forms are often characterized as being more immature than their environment. This may be what enables neural stem cells to affect intestinal cancer cells.”

Such finding is of new angle on the issue and though still a long shot to clinical testing, the prospects are potentially worthy of future exploration.

Source: Science Daily

Post from: Blisstree

Brain Stem Cells Shed Bit of Hope for Gliomas