Scientists at the University of Plymouth have been awarded significant funding to explore why certain drug treatments are proving ineffective in brain tumour patients.
The two-year project, supported by the Children's Tumor Foundation (CTF), will specifically be aimed at NF2-related schwannomatosis (NF2), a rare genetic condition which frequently causes patients to develop multiple tumours. These can include schwannomas on the nerves responsible for hearing and balance, as well as under the skin and along the spine, and meningiomas that develop in the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
At present, the only available treatments for NF2-related tumours are surgery and radiotherapy. However, these approaches are not suitable for all patients, particularly those with multiple tumours throughout the body, or with tumours located in neurologically sensitive regions. Even in patients who are eligible for surgery or radiotherapy, treatment is often associated with significant side effects.
Numerous drugs used clinically to tackle other tumour types have shown only limited or no effectiveness in treating NF2-related schwannoma and meningioma tumours. In recent studies, carried out at the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University the scientists discovered that Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR) - caused by specific proteins located on the surface of tumour cells - may be responsible. These proteins can actively transport drugs out of the cells, thereby preventing the drugs from exerting their therapeutic effects.
To address this challenge, the new project will explore whether clinically tested and FDA-approved cancer drugs, specifically those that inhibit MDR mechanisms, can be repurposed for use in combination with the drugs that failed in NF2 clinical trials.
The goal is to develop the first truly effective therapies for patients - and because NF2-related tumours closely resemble their sporadic counterparts, treatments shown to be effective in NF2-related schwannoma and meningioma could subsequently be extended to the much larger population of patients with sporadic tumours, which are highly prevalent, particularly meningiomas, the most common type of primary brain tumour.
The project is being funded through a grant of over $175,000 from the CTF's Drug Discovery Initiative (DDI) Awards programme and will be led by Associate Professor
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