Categories: Health

New epigenetic approach promises to revolutionize brain cancer treatment

Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive types of brain cancer with a dismal prognosis even with the most advanced treatments. Patients with this disease rarely survive beyond two years, partly because of the difficulty the immune system has in recognizing and attacking tumor cells of this type of cancer. However, a recent study conducted by researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis may change this panorama: scientists have succeeded in making glioblastoma cells visible to the immune system, opening up the possibility of more effective immunological treatments.

Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive types of brain cancer with a dismal prognosis even with the most advanced treatments.

This innovative approach, published in the journal Natural geneticsbased on reprogramming tumor cells using a combination of drugs. These connections are already FDA approved In other types of cancer, they induce glioblastoma cells to display specific proteins that can be detected and attacked by the immune system. The discovery opens a promising path to new treatments for a disease that has challenged medicine for decades..

The invisibility of glioblastoma

The human immune system typically protects the body by recognizing and attacking cells that it considers foreign or harmful. To do this, it relies on the detection of specific proteins known as antigens. However, Glioblastoma cells contain very little of these antigens, which allows them to “hide” from the immune system.

. The absence of these proteins in tumor cells reduces the effectiveness of immunotherapy, a method that has shown surprising results in other types of cancer, such as melanoma and lung cancer.

Glioblastoma cells contain very little of these antigens, which allows them to “hide” from the immune system.

He Professor Ting Wang, co-author of the study and director of the Department of Genetics at the University of Washington School of Medicineexplains: “For patients whose tumors do not naturally form targets for immunotherapy, we have shown that there is a way to induce their formation.” This strategy represents an important step in the field of precision medicine because it allows the creation of immunological targets in tumors that would not otherwise have them.

“Mobile elements”

To get tumor cells to produce antigens, Wang and his team focused on so-called transposable elements—segments of DNA that can “jump” from one part of the genome to another and are often inactive in healthy cells. Although transposable elements are generally thought to contribute to cancer progression, Wang and his team noticed that under certain conditions These segments can also induce the production of specific proteins by tumor cells.known as neoantigens.

Scientists induced the expression of transposable elements in glioblastoma cells, which triggered the production of neoantigens.

By activating these mobile elements in glioblastomaResearchers have been able to force tumor cells to generate unique proteins that are different from those produced by healthy cells.o this makes these proteins potential targets for immune cells. The team used a combination of two drugs approved to treat other types of cancer: decitabine, used to treat some types of blood cancer, and panobinostat, which is used to treat multiple myeloma. When prescribing these drugs Scientists induced the expression of transposable elements in glioblastoma cells, which triggered the production of neoantigens.

Problems

Despite promising results in cell cultures, researchers are aware of the challenges before applying this strategy to patients. One of the main risks is that the drugs used also affect normal cells, inducing their production of neoantigens, although to a lesser extent than tumor cells. This can cause unwanted side effects if the immune system is also exposed to healthy cells.or.

One of the main risks is that the drugs used also affect normal cells, causing them to produce neoantigens.

For this reason, the team is studying alternatives direct the action of drugs only to tumor cells. A possible solution could involve the use of CRISPR gene editing technology.which will allow the activation of certain mobile elements in tumor cells without affecting healthy cells. This approach, according to Wang, could not only improve the precision of therapy, but also allow tumors from different patients to form common immunological targets, which will facilitate the development of more effective immunotherapies.

Combined and personalized therapy.

Albert H. Kim, a neurosurgeon and co-author of the study, is optimistic about the study’s potential to change the treatment of glioblastoma. “Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of some cancers, but progress has been slow for glioblastoma due to its resistance to current treatments,” says Kim, who is also director of the University of Washington Brain Tumor Center.

The key to improving the treatment of glioblastoma is combining immunotherapy with epigenetic therapy.

For Kim and his team, the key to improving the treatment of glioblastoma lies in combining immunotherapy with epigenetic therapy. Epigenetics refers to changes that regulate gene activity without changing the genetic sequence itself, and epigenetic therapy allows one to influence which genes are active at a given time.. By combining these two approaches, researchers hope to overcome the resistance of glioblastoma and achieve immune responses similar to those achieved in other types of cancer.

Next steps

Although this approach is still a long way from clinical trials, the results from Wang, Kim and their team represent significant progress in developing new strategies to combat glioblastoma. In the future, This line of research could not only improve patient survival rates, but also open the door to personalized treatments. for other types of cancer that are difficult to treat.

This line of research could not only improve patient survival rates, but also open the door to personalized treatments.

The Washington University in St. Louis team’s achievement marks a major milestone in the treatment of glioblastoma and opens a new era of immunotherapy options for brain cancer. If they can overcome existing obstacles, this innovative strategy could radically change the prognosis of a disease that has until now been virtually incurable..