Wednesday, February 19, 2014

A Two-Drug Combination To Help Brain Tumors

By Robbie Sutter


Brain tumors are going to be given a great amount of focus as far as the usage of certain drugs is concerned. Some of these drugs may be more useful than others but the truth of the matter is that they can come from many different sources. While it's clear that there are those which are entirely unique, there are just as many - if not more - that have been put to use in order to treat entirely different conditions in the past. Is it possible, then, that a two-drug combination can help matters in this particular field?

According to an article on YottaFire, it appears as though this is the case, as a new combination of drugs has been put to use in order to help slow down the growth rate of brain tumors. The study was conducted through a group of mice in order to see how well their survival rates have become. Fortunately, results were positive, as their levels of survival were made even greater. This is just the start as to why such a story is worthy of the attention of organizations such as Voices against Brain Cancer.

Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute conducted the study while utilizing two drugs that would, in theory, be able to control the actions associated with glioblastoma. Keep in mind that a similar study was done in the past, focusing on one pathway, but the results that came about was not successful. With this method, though, two cell signaling pathways have been given focus. This is an improvement, to be certain, but I feel as though there should be focus given on a genetic abnormality that is common in around one-third of glioblastoma patients.

These patients, from what I have gathered, seem to lack a certain gene by the name of PTEN. This may not be a common name to most but be certain that this gene works as something of a tumor-suppressant. If PTEN is not seen in the body, an excessive amount of molecular growth can occur, which means that the malignant rate of said growth can reach the brain as well. It is uncertain if PTEN can be replaced but the drug combination spoken about before can halt the level of growth seen.

It's apparent that the human body goes about all types of actions, whether or not we know of them. It's clear that we won't be able to understand all of them but it is clear that they are carried out for certain reasons. For example, the lack of PTEN is one that can bring brain tumors to the surface. It's an unfortunate case to make but the truth of the matter is that there are certain drugs that can be utilized; it's just a matter of determining how effective they will be from one patient to the next.




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