Monday, 9 December 2013

A Combination For Brain Cancer Research

By Robert Sutter


Brain cancer research seems to place a great amount of focus on glioblastoma and it's not hard to see why. To many, it is the kind of condition that those in this particular field are able to focus on, seeing as how it is one of the more detrimental ones from a medical standpoint. That being said, is it possible that combination of drugs can come into great effect in the long term? I believe this to be especially true, as this ailment has impacted a number of patients.

US News and World Report put up a written piece that spoke about the idea of treatment in terms of glioblastoma. It seems to be one of the greatest goals that is being worked to, which is especially true when considering how common - not to mention aggressive - this particular growth can be. The University of Zurich stated that the condition, at this point, is "virtually incurable." However, it seems as though a unique drug therapy could potentially prove to be one of the most useful in the long term.

The study group put together a procedure that would be able to target the tumors that were seen in mice. They were simultaneously injected with a T cell-boosting protein referred to as interleukin-12, as well as another drug that would serve to block an inhibitory function within the T cell. In spite of only IL-12 being put to use, there was an increased survival rate in mice by 25%. While this is a notable result to consider, is it possible that it can only stop at this point?

I believe that this is a particular case that will be able to benefit the ongoings that are associated with brain cancer research. Another drug would be able to come into play, making sure that the T cells could not regulate like they would have normally. The survival rate, in turn, changed from 25% and boosted to a much higher 80%. To say that this type of increase is tremendous would be an understatement and I'd like to think that many organizations would be able to focus on it, V-A-B-C seen amongst them.

Even if this procedure does not prove to be helpful in the long term, it is clear that there are possibilities that exist. They have to be able to come about or else the level of brain cancer research seen is not going to be nearly as tremendous as it should be. The drug combination spoken about here has proven itself to be especially noteworthy, which is something that is hard to overlook. It is important to keep this in mind so that, in time, other strategies can come into effect.




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