Cookie Hinweis

Wir verwenden Cookies, um Ihnen ein optimales Webseiten-Erlebnis zu bieten. Dazu zählen Cookies, die für den Betrieb der Seite notwendig sind, sowie solche, die lediglich zu anonymen Statistikzwecken, für Komforteinstellungen oder zur Anzeige personalisierter Inhalte genutzt werden. Sie können selbst entscheiden, welche Kategorien Sie zulassen möchten. Bitte beachten Sie, dass auf Basis Ihrer Einstellungen womöglich nicht mehr alle Funktionalitäten der Seite zur Verfügung stehen. Weitere Informationen finden Sie in unseren Datenschutzhinweisen .

Essentiell

Diese Cookies sind für die Funktionalität unserer Website erforderlich und können nicht deaktiviert werden.

Name Webedition CMS
Zweck Dieses Cookie wird vom CMS (Content Management System) Webedition für die unverwechselbare Identifizierung eines Anwenders gesetzt. Es bietet dem Anwender bessere Bedienerführung, z.B. Speicherung von Sucheinstellungen oder Formulardaten. Typischerweise wird dieses Cookie beim Schließen des Browsers gelöscht.
Name econda
Zweck Session-Cookie für die Webanalyse Software econda. Diese läuft im Modus „Anonymisiertes Messen“.
Statistik

Diese Cookies helfen uns zu verstehen, wie Besucher mit unserer Webseite interagieren, indem Informationen anonym gesammelt und analysiert werden. Je nach Tool werden ein oder mehrere Cookies des Anbieters gesetzt.

Name econda
Zweck Measure with Visitor Cookie emos_jcvid
Externe Medien

Inhalte von externen Medienplattformen werden standardmäßig blockiert. Wenn Cookies von externen Medien akzeptiert werden, bedarf der Zugriff auf diese Inhalte keiner manuellen Zustimmung mehr.

Name YouTube
Zweck Zeige YouTube Inhalte
Name Twitter
Zweck Twitter Feeds aktivieren

Enhanced treatment of brain tumors

No. 62 | 23/11/2011 | by Koh

Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Heidelberg University Hospitals have tested a combination of radiation treatment and a substance that blocks the transforming growth factor beta (TGF- β) for treating glioblastoma. In the mouse model, this combination therapy was found to be more effective in slowing down the growth of such malignant brain tumors and to prolong survival of the animals. Researchers will now conduct a multicenter clinical trial to find out whether patients might also benefit from a combination of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and growth factor blocking.

MRT-Image of a glioblastoma
© Dr. Alexander Radbruch, Lars Gerigk, Abt. Radiologie, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum

Glioblastoma is regarded as the most malignant form of brain tumor. In many cases, neurosurgeons are not able to remove such tumors completely because of the risk of destroying too much brain tissue in the process. Moreover, it is often impossible to identify all the fine extensions by which the tumor spreads into surrounding healthy tissue. To at least slow down the growth of tumor cells that have remained in the head, almost all glioblastoma patients are treated by radiotherapy after surgery.

“Unfortunately, we can only delay cancerous growth in this way, but we cannot cure patients. The tumor cells, especially the cancer stem cells, are very resistant to radiation,” says Prof. Dr. Dr. Peter Huber, who is head of the Clinical Cooperation Unit ‘Radiation Oncology’ at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ).

Studies conducted in recent years found that response to radiation therapy in various cancers is better when certain types of cellular growth factors are blocked at the same time. Glioblastoma cells often produce large amounts of a growth factor called TGF-β (transforming growth factor beta). High levels of TGF-β in these tumors are correlated with particularly aggressive growth and a poor prognosis. In addition, the factor seems to support the self-renewal capability of glioblastoma stem cells. “We therefore suspect that blocking TGF-β signaling pathways slows down the self-renewal of cancer stem cells and, thus, may improve radiation treatment outcomes,” Peter Huber adds, explaining the background of the study now published.

In collaboration with colleagues from, among others, the Radiology Department of Heidelberg University Hospitals and a DKFZ department led by Prof. Dr. Ana Villalba, Huber’s team investigated the effect of a combination of radiation treatment and a newly developed substance called LY2109761. This substance blocks the signals that are transmitted into cells by the TGF-β receptor. The investigators first studied glioblastoma cells in tissue samples taken during surgical removal of the tumors. Irradiation combined with adding the substance reduced the self-renewal capability of tumor stem cells and delayed their growth significantly better than radiation treatment alone.

The group transplanted human glioblastoma cells into the brains of mice and found that these animals, after receiving the combination therapy, survived longer than those animals treated by radiotherapy alone. Tissue studies showed that, under the combination therapy, tumors grew more slowly and less invasively and showed a lower density of newly formed blood vessels. “Paradoxically, radiation therapy can provoke aggressive growth behavior in surviving tumor cells. LY2109761 seems to prevent this fatal effect,” says Huber, explaining how the drug seems to work.

Blocking of TGF-β signaling produced such promising results that researchers will now conduct a multicenter clinical trial to find out whether this mechanism may also slow down glioblastoma growth in patients more effectively than the current standard treatment. Led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wick, who is head of a collaboration unit of DKFZ and the Neurology Department of Heidelberg University Hospitals, the combination therapy will be tested in Germany (Heidelberg), Spain, and the U.S.A.

Mengxian Zhang, Susanne Kleber, Manuel Röhrich, Carmen Timke, Na Han, Jochen Tuettenberg, Ana Martin-Villalba, Jürgen Debus, Peter Peschke, Ute Wirkner, Michael Lahn and Peter E. Huber: Blockade of TGF-beta signaling by the TGFβR-I kinase inhibitor LY2109761 enhances radiation response and prolongs survival in glioblastoma. Cancer Research 2011, DOI:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-11-1212

With more than 3,000 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.

To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:

  • National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT, 6 sites)
  • German Cancer Consortium (DKTK, 8 sites)
  • Hopp Children's Cancer Center (KiTZ) Heidelberg
  • Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON Mainz) - A Helmholtz Institute of the DKFZ
  • DKFZ-Hector Cancer Institute at the University Medical Center Mannheim
  • National Cancer Prevention Center (jointly with German Cancer Aid)
The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.

RSS-Feed

Subscribe to our RSS-Feed.

to top
powered by webEdition CMS