Scientists at Oregon State University have found a new way to treat glioblastoma, a very aggressive brain cancer.
Why Glioblastoma Is Hard to Treat
Less than three out of ten patients live two years after they are diagnosed.
The disease is tough because medicine must cross the blood‑brain barrier and reach only the tumor cells.
Sugar‑Coated Tiny Particles
Researchers made tiny fat particles that carry genetic instructions. They wrapped these particles with a sugar called mannose.
The sugar helps the particles sneak through the blood‑brain barrier and gather inside the tumor.
In mice, this method made the average survival time 50% longer.
How the Sugar Works
Brain blood vessels have a protein called GLUT1 that normally moves glucose into the brain. GLUT1 also recognizes mannose, so the coated particles use the same route.
To make the particles stick to the sugar, scientists attached mannose to cholesterol, which covered the surface six times more than before.
Turning On a Tumor‑Blocking Gene
The particles carry messenger RNA that tells cells to make a protein named PTEN, which stops tumors from growing.
PTEN is missing in many glioblastoma cells. The RNA is protected inside the particle by a positively charged cholesterol piece.
Glioblastoma cells have three times more GLUT1 than normal brain cells, so more particles end up in the tumor.
Repeated doses shrank tumors in mice without harming other organs.
The Disease in People
About 3.2 out of every 100,000 Americans get glioblastoma. It is more common in men, and the average age at diagnosis is 64.
More than 95% of patients die within five years.
The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Research Foundation of Korea.