Health

Plymouth: According to a recent study, medications intended to treat blood and other malignancies may also increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy for low-grade brain tumours in adults. Roughly 36 per cent of initial brain tumours are meningiomas. Most can be effectively treated with surgery, however radiotherapy is required for individuals that are difficult to treat. This may result in serious side effects and radiation damage to the brain, and tumour growth may also arise from treatment resistance. A new study by researchers at the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Plymouth looked in detail at the effects of that radiation damage but also ways of mitigating it. Using meningioma cells, researchers discovered that radiation-induced damage can lead to cells producing an increased quantity of the enzyme Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), which has previously been shown to contribute to tumour growth. However, by administering the HDAC6 inhibitor Cay10603 prior to radiotherapy, they were able to inhibit cellular growth - and increase cell death - in meningioma samples. The study - published in the journal eBioMedicine - was led by Dr Juri Na and Professor Oliver Hanemann, and they say their findings represent a potential promising approach to improving the treatment outcomes of malignant meningioma. The research also builds on extensive and ongoing work by the Centre of Excellence in Plymouth looking at the potential of already-approved medications to be repurposed as a way of helping brain tumour patients. Dr Na, Senior Research Fellow and the study's lead author, said: "Cay10603 has been developed to HDAC, a common target for some approved blood cancer drugs. But our study shows that when used alongsid ...