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- Posted Wednesday January 13, 2016
TGen study published today targets SGEF protein in treating glioblastoma brain tumors
Study funded by Ivy Foundation shows SGEF plays roles in how cancer cells survive and invade brain tissue
PHOENIX, Ariz. - Jan. 13, 2016 - TheTranslational
Genomics Research Institute (TGen) has identified a protein
called SGEF that promotes the survival of glioblastoma tumor cells
and helps the cancer invade brain tissue.
TGen researchers identified SGEF as a target for new brain cancer
therapies in a study published today by Molecular Cancer
Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer
Research, the world's largest professional organization dedicated
to advancing cancer research.
Glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, is the most common primary tumor
of the brain and central nervous system. One of the primary
treatments for glioblastoma is surgical removal of the tumor.
However, because of the aggressive way glioblastomas invade
surrounding brain tissue, it is impossible to remove all parts of
the tumors, and the cancer eventually returns and spreads.
This study found that SGEF also plays a role in how glioblastoma
tumors develop resistance to treatment. Following surgery, GBM is
treated with radiation and the standard-of-care chemotherapy drug
called temozolomide (TMZ),
"We need to identify the genetic and cellular-pathway signaling
mechanisms that make brain tumors resistant to treatment," said Dr.
Nhan Tran, Associate Professor and head of TGen's Central Nervous
System Tumor Research Lab. "And the role of SGEF in promoting
chemotherapeutic resistance highlights this previously
unappreciated protein. Importantly, this also suggests that
SGEF could be a new candidate for development of targeted
therapeutics," said Dr. Tran, the study's senior
author.
This study was funded, in part, by The Ben & Catherine Ivy
Foundation.
"Contributing to the progress, TGen studies are helping uncover
the mysteries behind glioblastoma," said Catherine (Bracken) Ivy,
founder and president of the Arizona-based Ben & Catherine Ivy
Foundation. "This research is fundamental to helping patients
survive longer and critical to our goal of improving treatments,
and eventually finding a cure."
The ability of cancer cells to survive is influenced by the
proteins that regulate cellular pathways involved in promoting how
cells grow, replicate and spread, as well as whether cells will die
when exposed to anti-cancer drugs. Radiation and drug treatment of
GBM can lead to DNA damage. This study shows that SGEF promotes
cancer cell survival in response to TMZ
treatmentbyallowingtumor cells to rapidly repair
the damaged DNA that otherwise would lead to cell death.
"Our study shows that SGEF may have an important role in helping
cells survive injury - known as the pro-survival cellular signaling
response - including injury to common drugs used to treat brain
cancer such as TMZ," said Dr. Shannon Fortin Ensign, the study's
lead author.
"The roles of invasion and survival are interconnected in the
promotion of disease progression," said Dr. Fortin Ensign, a former
researcher at TGen who now is a resident in Internal Medicine at
Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, Calif. "SGEF presents a novel
hub in the interrelated axes of tumor cell invasion and
survival."
The study, SGEF is Regulated via TWEAK/Fn14/NF-κB Signaling
and Promotes Survival by Modulation of the DNA Repair Response to
Temozolomide, was published online today by AACR's
Molecular Cancer Research.
Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest
professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research
and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership
includes more than 35,000 laboratory, translational and clinical
researchers; population scientists; other health care
professionals; and cancer advocates in 97 countries.
This study was funded by: the National Institutes of Health under
grant number R01 CA130940; by the ARCS Foundation Eller Scholarship
and Science Foundation Arizona Fellowship; and by The Ben &
Catherine Ivy Foundation.
# # #
About The Ben & Catherine Ivy
Foundation
The Ben & Catherine Ivy Foundation, based in Scottsdale,
Ariz., was formed in 2005, when Ben Ivy lost his battle with
glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Since then, the Foundation has
contributed more than $50 million to research in gliomas within the
United States and Canada, with the goal of better diagnostics and
treatments that offer long-term survival and a high quality of life
for patients with brain tumors. The Ben & Catherine Ivy
Foundation is the largest privately funded foundation of its kind
in the United States. For more information, visit www.ivyfoundation.org.
Press Contact:
Beth McRae
The McRae Agency
480-990-0282
[email protected]
About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused
on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, and
diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process
of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. For more information,
visit:www.tgen.org. Follow TGen onFacebook,LinkedInandTwitter @TGen.
Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]