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A new method that can change the aggressive brain cancer is treated Has been developed by researchers.
Experts at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Northwestern University in Illinois have worked on a new non-invasive Attitude towards treatmentWhich delivers a tumor-fighting drug to the brain through nasal drops and was shown in a study to eliminate malignant tumors in mice.
Glioblastoma tumors, the most common type of cancer that starts in the brain, are known as “cold tumors” because they do not induce the body’s natural immune response like so-called “hot tumors,” making them easier to treat with immunotherapy.
Researchers had developed ways to trigger immune responses against tumor By stimulating a pathway called STING (stimulator of interferon genes) within cells. The sting begins when a cell detects unfamiliar DNA and activates the body’s immune system to respond to that threat.
Previous studies have shown that drugs that activate STING can activate the body’s immune system in glioblastoma tumors. better fight cancerBut these agents break down quickly in the body and must be delivered directly to the tumor to work, and this usually requires highly invasive procedures,
To overcome this and find a less invasive method of treatment, the team from two universities developed a way for a new class of circular nucleic acid, which is delivered to the brain through the nose, to trigger the activation of the STING pathway in specific immune cells.
The team found that when their drug was delivered via nasal drops into mice, it traveled down the main nerve that connects facial muscles to the brain, evoking an immune response in the brain that concentrated on specific immune cells, particularly in the tumor itself, and eliciting some helper responses in the lymph nodes.
The medicine does not spread to other parts of the body where it could cause unwanted side effects. Examination of immune cells in and around the tumor showed that the therapy successfully activated the STING pathway and empowered the immune system to fight the tumor.
When applied in combination with drugs designed to help activate T lymphocytes, another type of immune cell, the new therapy eliminated tumors with just one or two doses and induced long-term immunity against their recurrence. Overall, the results were much better than current STING-activated immune therapies, according to the University of Washington.
Professor and study co-corresponding author Alexander H. Steeg, PhD, said: “We wanted to change this reality and develop a non-invasive treatment that activates the immune response to attack glioblastoma.”
“With this research, we have shown that precisely engineered nanostructures, called spherical nucleic acids, can safely and effectively activate powerful immune pathways within the brain. This redefines how cancer immunotherapy can be achieved in otherwise difficult-to-reach tumors.”
Dr. Stegh said that turning on the STING pathway is not enough to fight glioblastoma, because tumors have many ways to block or turn off the immune response that STING activates.
His team is looking to add capabilities to their nanostructures that activate other immune responses. This may allow physicians to double or triple the therapeutic goals in a single therapy.
Of the results, Dr. Steg said: “This is an approach that offers hope for safer, more effective treatments for glioblastoma and potentially other immune therapy-resistant cancers, and it is an important step toward clinical application.”