OREANDA-NEWS. Scientists from Russia and Sweden have found several proteins inside glioblastoma cells, a “McCain cancer,” whose abnormal work helps them to multiply rapidly. Blocking these molecules has the potential to stop the growth of a tumor, according to biologists in the journal Oncology Reports.

"The suppression of these proteins will increase the effectiveness of therapy against the formation of new microvessels in the vicinity of the tumor. Such therapy is an integral part of the modern treatment of glioblastoma. The results of our research can be introduced into clinical practice in the near future," says Igor Bryukhovetsky from Far Eastern Federal University.

Various forms of brain and spinal cord cancer are relatively rare compared to breast, prostate or intestinal cancers, but their rarity is compensated for by the fact that virtually all of them are extremely aggressive and dangerous to humans. The acquisition of such a cancer in most cases leads to the rapid death of the patient due to difficulties in the use of chemotherapy or the impossibility of surgical intervention.

Bryukhovetsky and his colleagues have figured out how to slow down the growth of a tumor by studying how rebellious brain stem cells, generating the most dangerous and incurable tumors of this type, behave. The reproduction of these progenitors of the tumor and normal stem cells is controlled by a chain of Wnt genes. Scientists have long been interested in whether their work changes during the formation of glioblastoma, and if so, which of the shifts in their functioning make cancer cells invulnerable to chemotherapy.

The suppression of these proteins, as suggested by biologists, can significantly reduce the resistance of glioblastomas to chemotherapy or radiation, as well as to drugs that interfere with the repair of DNA. This will simultaneously prolong the life of patients and make these procedures less dangerous for healthy brain cells.