Brain cancer patients with glioblastoma may survive longer if they undergo radiation treatments that include stem cell niches as well as their primary tumors. Patients who received this treatment experienced 15 months of progression-free survival, compared with 7.2 months for patients who had little or no radiation to stem cell niches, according to a study published online in BMC Cancer.
Researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles made this discovery after retrospectively evaluating the medical records of 55 patients who received treatment between February 2003 and May 2009 for stage III and IV glioblastomas. Frank Pajonk, MD, associate professor of radiation oncology, suggested that these findings could result in changes in the way that radiation therapy is given to patients with these deadly brain cancers (BMC Cancer, July 21, 2010).
Pajonk and colleagues hypothesize that the periventricular region of the brain containing the neural stem cell niche may harbor stem cells that have transformed into brain cancer stem cells. It serves as a safe haven to keep these cells separated from the malignant brain tumor, but then enables them to grow a new malignancy once the primary tumor has been removed and the immediate area surrounding the tumor has been treated.
If stem cell niches are irradiated, the cancerous stem cells contained within them may be eradicated, extending progression-free survival time, the authors suggested. Because irradiated healthy stem cells may also be damaged, it may be possible to use induced pluripotent stem cells made from the patient's own cells to replace them, according to the authors.
The authors recommend that a prospective clinical trial be initiated to confirm their findings.
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Glioblastoma survival rate quadrupled with temozolomide plus radiation, November 1, 2007
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