Brain cancer discovery reveals clues in quest for new therapies
The findings shed light on the mechanisms that underpin brain cancer progression and could eventually reveal targets for the development of much-needed therapies, researchers say. Scientists conducted lab tests on tumour cells from patients with glioblastoma, a rare but aggressive type of brain cancer. Previous studies have found that glioblastoma cells share similarities with normal brain stem cells, which give rise to the many different cell types in the brain during development. The team identified two molecules that are produced at high levels by the cells -- called FOXG1 and SOX2. Similar levels of these molecules are found in brain stem cells and are a defining feature of these cells. The researchers found that SOX2 drives glioblastoma cells to keep dividing, a hallmark of cancer. FOXG1 stops the cells from responding to other signals that would usually point them towards becoming specialised, the team found. Both FOXG1 and SOX2 work by controlling when key target...