UVA scientists discover possible new treatment for deadliest brain cancer
Scientists at the University of Virginia School of Medicine are chasing a new way to slow glioblastoma, the deadliest brain cancer. Their work centers on a gene called AVIL and a new drug-like molecule that shuts it down in lab tests and in mice. The research comes from Hui Li, a professor in UVA’s Department of Pathology and a scientist at the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center. His team reports the findings in Science Translational Medicine. The group says a small molecule, called Compound A, blocks a protein made by AVIL and slows tumor growth without obvious harmful side effects in mice. Glioblastoma is a fast-growing cancer that spreads through brain tissue like tangled roots. Doctors can cut out what they can see, but the tumor often threads into healthy brain. Radiation and chemotherapy can help for a while, but not for long. A cancer with few good options If you or someone close to you has followed glioblastoma, the numbers are hard to forget. Survival averages about 15 months after diagnosis. Roughly 12,000 to 14,000 …
