Brain Tumor Cells Made More Responsive to Radiation

ScienceDaily (Dec. 3, 2009) — Duke University Medical Center researchers have figured out how stem cells in the malignant brain cancer glioma may be better able to resist radiation therapy. And using a drug to block a particular signaling pathway in these cancer stem cells, they were able to kill many more glioma cells with radiation in a laboratory experiment.

The work builds off earlier research which showed that cancer stem cells resist the effects of radiation much better than other cancer cells.

The Duke team identified a known signaling pathway called Notch as the probable reason for the improved resistance. Notch also operates in normal stem cells, where it is important for cell-cell communication that controls cell growth and differentiation processes. The study was published in late November by Stem Cells journal.

"This is the first report that Notch signaling in tumor tissue is related to the failure of radiation treatments," said lead author Jialiang Wang, Ph.D., a research associate in the Duke Division of Surgery Sciences and the Duke Translational Research Institute. "This makes the Notch pathway an attractive drug target. The right drug may be able to stop the real bad guys, the glioma stem cells."

source: Science Daily Release