Combining two "old therapies" has a powerful therapeutic effect on children's brain tumors

A study published today in the journal PLOS ONE describes this prospective therapy—combining copper ions with a drug that was once thought to treat alcoholism

According to the National Cancer Institute, medulloblastoma is a fast-growing cancerous tumor that originates in the brain or spinal cord

In general, the survival rate of children with medulloblastoma without transmission is about 70%, but this may drop to 40% depending on the age of the patient, the molecular subtype of the tumor (there are four), and any previous tumors The extent of surgical resection, and whether there is metastasis (spread to other parts of the body)

Recent research led by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine looks at an alternative therapy

"Disulfiram [DSF], a drug used to treat chronic alcoholism for nearly 70 years, has great hopes to be'repurposed' as an anticancer agent, especially when it is combined with metal ions such as copper (Cu++) When," said Betty Taylor, the senior author of the study and associate professor of neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

"Our goal is to pave the way for a successful treatment that can be used in children, whether used alone or in combination with traditional radiotherapy and chemotherapy," the study's co-author and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Neurology Said Henry Brem, MD, head of the Department of Surgery

In this research led by Ricardo Serra, MD, researchers tested the anti-cancer activity of dsf-cu + + and tried to determine its molecular level targeting to achieve these effects-in Cell culture and mice

"As the pathway is closed, these proteins accumulate in the tumor, causing the death of malignant cells, marking them, and clearing them by the immune system," Brem said

Second, the researchers found that dsf-cu + + not only kills the medulloblastoma cells, but also reduces the cells responsible for the formation of medulloblastoma

Taylor said: "Cancer stem cells initiate the process of tumorigenesis (tumor generation), and play a role in cancer recurrence and tumor metastasis after treatment

The third finding of the study shows that DSF-CU++ impairs the ability of myeloblastoma cells to repair damaged DNA, thereby enhancing the cytotoxic (cell killing) ability of the treatment

Brem said: "This shows that DSF-Cu++ prevents cancer cells from recovering after disrupting the genes that control the growth and survival of cancer cells.

Finally, the researchers tested the effect of the combination of DSF and copper on the survival rate of mice whose brains were implanted with two types of medulloblastoma

Journal Reference :

1. Riccardo Serra, Tianna Zhao, Sakibul Huq, Noah Leviton Gorelick, Joshua Casaos, Arba Cecia, Antonella Mangraviti, Charles Eberhart, Renyuan Bai, Alessandro Olivi, Henry Brem, Eric M.