Researchers have discovered that an FDA approved drug has the ability to kill brain cancer tumors.
The medication fights against the most deadly form of brain cancer, glioblastoma, a University of California - San Diego news release reported.
The researchers used technology called shRNAto see how the human genome was related to glioblastoma growth.
"ShRNAs are invaluable tools in the study of what genes do. They function like molecular erasers," Clark C. Chen, MD, PhD, vice-chairman, UC San Diego, School of Medicine, division of neurosurgery, said in the news release. "We can design these 'erasers' against every gene in the human genome. These shRNAs can then be packaged into viruses and introduced into cancer cells. If a gene is required for glioblastoma growth and the shRNA erases the function of that gene, then the cancer cell will either stop growing or die."
The researchers found a number of genes necessary for glioblastoma growth are also needed dopamine receptors to function. Dopamine is a molecule that binds to dopamine receptors, this enables cell communication.
Abnormal dopamine regulation has been linked to conditions such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. The drugs in question work to regulate dopamine and ease psychotic disorders.
The team found these drugs had anti-tumor effects in both cultured cells and mouse models.
"The anti-glioblastoma effects of these drugs are completely unexpected and were only uncovered because we carried out an unbiased genetic screen," Chen said.
"On the clinical front, the finding is important for two reasons," Bob Carter, MD, PhD, chairman of UC San Diego, School of Medicine, division of neurosurgery, said in the news release. "First, these drugs are already FDA-cleared for human use in the treatment of other diseases, so it is possible these drugs may be re-purposed for glioblastoma treatment, thereby bypassing years of pre-clinical testing. Second, these drugs have been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier, a barrier that prevents more than 90 percent of drugs from entry into the brain."
