Study reveals genes that drive brain cancer

A team of researchers at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University Medical Center has identified 18 new genes responsible for driving glioblastoma multiforme, the most common-and most aggressive-form of brain cancer in adults. The study was published August 5, 2013, in Nature Genetics.

"Cancers rely on driver genes to remain cancers, and driver genes are the best targets for therapy," said Antonio Iavarone, MD, professor of pathology and neurology at Columbia University Medical Center and a principal author of the study.

"Once you know the driver in a particular tumor and you hit it, the cancer collapses. We think our study has identified the vast majority of drivers in glioblastoma, and therefore a list of the most important targets for glioblastoma drug development and the basis for personalized treatment of brain cancer."
Personalized treatment could be a reality soon for about 15 percent of glioblastoma patients, said Anna Lasorella, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and of pathology & cell biology at CUMC.

"This study-together with our study from last year, Research May Lead to New Treatment for Type of Brain Cancer-shows that about 15 percent of glioblastomas are driven by genes that could be targeted with currently available FDA-approved drugs," she said. "There is no reason why these patients couldn't receive these drugs now in clinical trials."
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