A team led by researchers at the University of Toronto has uncovered new targets that could be the key to effectively treating glioblastoma, a lethal type of brain cancer. These targets were identified through a screen for genetic vulnerabilities in patient-derived cancer stem cells that represent the variability found in tumors. Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain cancer in adults.
It is also the most challenging to treat due to the resistance of glioblastoma cancer stem cells, from which tumors grow, to therapy. Cancer stem cells that survive after a tumor is treated go on to form new tumors that do not respond to further treatment. "Glioblastoma tumors have evaded treatment thus far because their composition is highly variable both within and between tumors," said Graham MacLeod, co-first author on the study and senior research associate of U of T's Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research.
"The tumors vary quite a bit from person to person, and even within a single tumor there are multiple cell types that harbor differences at the genetic level." The study is published in the journal Cancer Research . A key finding of the research is that the variability among glioblastoma cancer stem cells can be observed across a gradient between two cell subtypes.
On one end is the developmental subtype, which resembles cells in which normal neurodevelopment has gone awry, and on the other end is the injury-response subtype, which is an inflammatory state. The a.