New research by the University of Sussex could help increase life expectancy and improve treatment of an aggressive brain cancer, which affects thousands of people each year in the UK and hundreds of thousands worldwide.
In the study, published in the journal Advanced Science, researchers discovered that a little-studied protein, called PANK4, is able to prevent cancer cells from responding to chemotherapy treatment for glioblastoma, a highly intrusive brain cancer.
Sussex scientists have shown that if the protein is removed, cancer cells respond better to the main chemotherapy drug used worldwide for the treatment of glioblastoma.
Professor Georgios Giamas, Professor of Cancer Cell Signaling at the University of Sussex, explains:
“Glioblastoma is a devastating brain cancer and researchers are working hard to identify ways to slow disease progression and address cellular resistance to treatment. As this is the first time that PANK4 has been linked to glioblastoma, the next step “is to develop a drug targeting this protein to try to reverse chemoresistance and restore sensitivity, ensuring that patients receive the best treatment and achieve better outcomes.”
Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. Approximately 3,200 adults are diagnosed with the disease each year in the UK, and around 250,000 to 300,000 worldwide, with a survival rate at best of only one to 18 months after diagnosis.
After surgery to remove the tumor, patients with glioblastoma are usually treated with radiation and the chemotherapy drug temozolomide. Although patients initially respond well to the drug, cancer cells quickly develop resistance to this treatment.
Scientists at the University of Sussex led an international research team to understand the possible reasons for this resistance, helping to guide future therapies to improve the quality of life and increase the life expectancy of people with glioblastoma.
The team identified a protein called PANK4 that, when removed from cancer cells, can cause cell death, and saw that patients responded better to temozolomide.
Relatedly, the researchers found that patients who expressed high levels of the PANK4 protein had lower survival rates.
Dr Viviana Vella, researcher at the University of Sussex, explains:
“There are a multitude of under-researched proteins that may have great potential for therapeutic intervention. Our study sheds light on this under-studied protein, PANK4, and reveals a protective role in temozolomide-resistant cancer cells. Ultimately, the PANK4 depletion represents a vulnerability that can “Now be exploited to restore drug sensitivity and improve treatment.”
This study contributes to a body of innovative research by Sussex researchers, focusing on the early diagnosis and treatment of glioblastoma.
The research group now hopes to develop a drug to reverse chemoresistance and improve patients' outlook.
Ms Charley Cranmer, Director of Fundraising and Communications at Cancer Action, who funded the research, adds:
“Action Against Cancer is very proud to have funded this ground-breaking research which offers so much hope to patients with this aggressive type of brain cancer.”