Radiotherapy with panobinostat is more effective on aggressive, recurrent brain cancer
Radiotherapy effectively damages brain tumours but the cancer cells can repair themselves in order to live on.
Now, researchers at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center have tested a strategy that combines radiotherapy with a drug that shuts down the ability of a tumour to mend themselves.
The research was conducted on 12 patients and will be published in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology.
Findings from the study suggest panobinostat makes radiotherapy more effective, News Medical reported.
Adam Dicker, co-author of the paper, said: “We are excited by the promise of a targeted agent that makes initial and repeat radiotherapy more effective.”
Panobinostat has been approved for use in the treatment of multiple myeloma and is currently tested for several other cancers. Panobinostat is a histone deacetylase inhibitor that modifies the expression of some RNA molecules which are produced from genes. Modifying RNA changes protein production, unsettling cancer growth. The drug also turns off RAD51, a DNA repair enzyme, Dr. Dicker added.