Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common type of brain cancer, and also one of the most deadly, with less than 10 percent of patients surviving 10 years. The disease strikes the glia, delicate tissue that surrounds the brain’s nerve cells.

According to the new study published in Cancer Research, scientists have pinpointed two genes, AEG-1 and Akt2, which promote the brain cancer’s growth and survival by facilitating the interaction of two proteins.

 

"This is the first time that this specific protein-protein signaling complex has been identified in GBM, and it gives us a new potential target for drug development," says Paul M. Fisher, the study’s lead author and discoverer of the AEG-1 gene. "If we can develop drugs that disrupt the interaction between these two proteins, we could potentially combine them with conventional therapies to more effectively treat malignant gliomas.”  

 

Cell signaling is a complex process that governs basic cellular functions and activities. If a gene is overexpressed, it means that its cell-signaling effect is overly powerful, which can lead to cancer.

 

If additional research is successful, the treatment target could be used for additional cancers in which the two genes are overexpressed, Fisher added.