(ANSA) – ROME – Researchers at the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital have developed a potential treatment for diffuse midline gliomas, aggressive, inoperable and currently untreated brain tumors. The treatment consists of a mix of gene and drug therapy which, in laboratory tests, inhibited tumor growth.
“The new treatment strategy has provided promising pre-clinical results and could represent the first step in successfully treating a proportion of patients suffering from this terrible form of cancer,” said Franco Locatelli.
The study was conducted on tumor cells from glioma patients. Through a drug screening, the researchers identified an experimental drug never tested in this pathology (Linsitinib) that has been shown to exert a direct antitumor action on cancer cells. This molecule was accompanied by the use of Car-T cells programmed to recognize and kill cancer cells by attacking a protein expressed on their surface: the GD2 antigen.
The use of the combined strategy in laboratory experiments has been shown to inhibit tumor growth. The researchers also showed that the combination produces a more effective anticancer effect than the two treatments used separately.
Despite the positive results, human trials will not be immediate, the researchers warn. It will first be necessary to develop better ways to deliver the drug and Car-T directly to the tumor site and carry out further tests to better understand what the immune and inflammatory response in patients may be.
The study was conducted in collaboration with the Higher Institute of Health, the Gemelli Polyclinic and the Institute of Cancer Research in London. The findings were published in the journal Neuro-Oncology.
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