Pitt Cancer Institute Discovers New Targets for Drugs to Defeat Glioblastoma Multiforme

University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) researchers have identified more than 125 genetic components in a chemotherapy-resistant, brain tumor-derived cell line, which could offer new hope for drug treatment to destroy the cancer cells. The potential drug targets were identified after testing more than 5,000 genes derived from glioblastoma multiforme — the most common and aggressive type of brain tumor in adults, which accounts for about 15 percent of all brain tumors, and typically occurs in people between the ages of 45 and 70 years. The genes were evaluated for their role in responding to the chemotherapy drug temozolomide. Study results will appear in the December issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Research, also available online.

“The current standard of care for people with this type of cancer is to remove as much of the tumor as possible, and then treat with radiation and temozolomide,” says lead author David Svilar, PhD, a student in the Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “However, glioblastoma multiforme is highly resistant to this chemotherapy drug, so we need to find better treatments to improve the patient survival rate.” For more information, click here to read the full release.