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Mar 11, 2019

Promising compound selectively kills brain cancer stem cells

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

Scripps Research scientists have discovered a compound that potently and selectively kills the stem-like cells that make glioblastoma brain cancers so deadly.

In a study published this week in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Scripps Research scientists found that the new compound, which they dubbed RIPGBM, kills stem-like cells cultured from patients’ tumors with more than 40 times the potency of the standard GBM drug . They found too that RIPGBM is highly selective, sparing other types of cells, and that it powerfully suppresses the growth of GBM tumors in a mouse model of the disease.

“Our discovery of this compound and the cellular pathways it affects offers a promising new strategy for treating glioblastoma,” says principal investigator Luke Lairson, PhD, an assistant professor of chemistry at Scripps Research.

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