New Approach to Treating Medulloblastoma Developed at NCI-Designated Cancer Center

October 2013, Vol 4, No 8

A team of researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, led by Robert Wechsler-Reya, PhD, Professor at Sanford-Burnham’s National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Center and Director of the Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program, discovered that they can block the rapid growth of cancerous brain cells by using small-molecule inhibitors. “By targeting fast-growing TPCs [tumor-propagating cells] with cell-cycle inhibitors, we have developed a new route to assault medulloblastoma. In this study, we have shown that cell-cycle inhibitors essentially block medulloblastoma tumor progression by halting TPC expansion, and have opened the window to preventing cancer recurrence,” said Dr Wechsler-Reya. Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute; September 25, 2013

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