Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute have identified more than 125 genetic components in a chemotherapy-resistant, brain tumor-derived cell line, offering hope of a drug treatment to destroy the cancer cells.
The potential drug targets were identified after testing more than 5,000 genes derived from glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer with poor long-term survival rates. The genes were evaluated for their role in responding to the chemotherapy drug temozolomide.
Patients with glioblastoma multiforme usually live less than 15 months after diagnosis, and there are no effective long-term treatments for the disease.
Lead author David Svilar, a student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues identified multiple targets, which could make the cancer more sensitive to drug therapy. Svilar said better treatments were needed to improve patient survival rates.