Pan-HDAC inhibitors, a drug used to fight blood cancer, could help improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy against brain tumors called meningiomas.
- Researchers have found that radiation-induced damage can cause cells to produce increased amounts of the enzyme HDAC6.
- It is known to promote tumor growth.
- The scientists then noticed that by administering the HDAC6 inhibitor Cay10603 before radiotherapy, cell growth was inhibited and cell death was greater within the tumor.
Meningiomas account for about a third of all primary brain tumors. While surgery is the most common treatment, radiation therapy is used to treat those that are difficult to access. However, this option is not without consequences for the body.
A team from the University of Plymouth (UK) has discovered that a drug already used to fight blood cancer can improve the effectiveness of radiotherapy by limiting the damage caused by radiation.
The study was published in the journal eBioMedicineJune 24, 2024.
Increased enzymes linked to tumor growth with radiotherapy
For their work on the effects of radiation therapy in treating a brain tumor, the researchers recovered meningioma cells. They found that the damage induced by radiation can lead the cells to produce an increased amount of an enzyme called histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6). It is known to promote tumor growth, and therefore treatment failure.
After this discovery, the team decided to test the effect of an HDAC6 inhibitor known as Cay10603 on the meningioma samples.
She noticed that this drug, already used to fight blood cancer, inhibits cell growth and increases cell death within the brain tumor, when administered before radiotherapy.
Radiotherapy: a drug that reduces serious side effects
For scientists, their findings offer a potentially promising approach to improving the outcomes of meningioma treatment.
“Cay10603 was developed to target the enzyme Histone deacetylase 6, a common target for some approved blood cancer drugs. But our study shows that when used alongside radiation therapy, the drug reduces cancer cell growth and increases tumor cell death. This means that this combination treatment will kill cancer cells more effectively while avoiding the serious side effects that can be caused by intensive radiation therapy, because we can deliver a low dose of radiation with Cay10603.”explains Dr. Juri Na, researcher and lead author of the study, in a communicated.
