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Brain Cancer Research: Can A Combination Come Into Play?

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

By Robert Sutter


Brain cancer research seems to place a great amount of focus on glioblastoma and it's not hard to see why. To many, it is the kind of condition that those in this particular field are able to focus on, seeing as how it is one of the more detrimental ones from a medical standpoint. That being said, is it possible that combination of drugs can come into great effect in the long term? I believe this to be especially true, as this ailment has impacted a number of patients.

US News and World Report posted an article about a potential treatment that could prove useful for the sake of treating glioblastoma. This is one point that should be looked into but you have to keep in mind that this condition stands as one of the most aggressive and common conditions seen in the brain. According to a study that was done by the University of Zurich, it is "virtually incurable." That being said, it seems like a two-pronged drug therapy approach could prove useful in the long term.

The university's study group looked into this condition, which is something that was done through the utilization of mice. Keep in mind that these mice were given a T cell-boosting protein named interleukin-12 as well as a separate drug that would work in order to halt the T cell's inhibitory function. Once the study was done with IL-12 alone, the mice benefitted from a 25% boost in terms of survival rate. If you think that this is where the results should stop, though, there is more to take into consideration.

I do not know if this is necessarily the case, especially when you take into consideration that another drug came into play for the sake of brain cancer research. Basically, it would be utilized in order to block T cells that self-regulate. With this combination set in place, the survival rate was no longer at 25% but rather a more notable 80%. To say that this could prove to be a strong combination in the future would be an understatement. It is one that calls for the attention of various organizations, V-A-B-C included.

I think that, regardless of where this type of news goes, it's apparent that there are possibilities which exist. I believe that brain cancer research is all about finding out what works best and sticking with it or searching to find entirely unique drugs that can work alone or with others. The tandem that was referred to before is, in my mind, quite noteworthy. I have to believe that, in time, this will be able to develop and go on to become utilized in studies to come.




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