A new treatment method invented for treating human brain cancer

A new experimental approach to treating a type of brain cancer called medulloblastoma has been developed by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham). The method targets cancer stem cells and halts their ability to proliferate by inhibiting enzymes that are essential for tumor progression. The findings of this research are published in Cancer Research. The research team, led by Robert Wechsler-Reya, Ph.D., professor in Sanford-Burnham's NCI-Designated Cancer Center and director of the Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program, discovered that the medulloblastoma cancer cells responsible for tumor growth and progression divide more quickly than normal cells. “One tumor can have many different types of cells in it, and they can grow at different rates. By targeting fast-growing TPCs with cell-cycle inhibitors, we have developed a new route to assault medulloblastoma. In this study, we have shown that cell-cycle inhibitors essentially block medulloblastoma tumor progression by halting TPC expansion, and have opened the window to preventing cancer recurrence”, said Wechsler-Reya.