The research team at the University of Ioannina participated in the development of a new treatment that could significantly improve the effectiveness of radiation therapy in patients diagnosed with the deadliest form of brain tumor.

A research team of the Organic Chemistry Laboratory of the Chemistry Department of the University of Ioannina led by Associate Professor Mr. Andreas Tzakos , in collaboration with researchers from Imperial College London and other research groups abroad, participated in a study, where it was found that a drug that fragments the amino acid arginine, made glioma tumors (GBM) more sensitive to radiotherapy.

The results of this research were published in the international scientific journal Journal of Clinical Investigation (journal impact factor 19.4 (2021)).

Glioma is the most common type of high-grade primary brain tumor in adults and also the most aggressive and fatal. Arginine is an amino acid used by cells to make complex molecules called proteins that perform a wide range of cellular functions. This particular amino acid is a vital growth nutrient for a number of cancer cells and especially those that have a rapid growth rate, and therefore depriving tumors of this amino acid has been investigated as a potential anticancer strategy in various types of tumors, including glioma.

The new study focused on both glioma tumors that can produce arginine and tumors that are unable to produce arginine by applying an arginine-destroying drug (ADI-PEG20) in combination with the use of radiation therapy. The results of the study showed that reducing the supply of arginine makes tumors more sensitive to radiation therapy . It has been observed that removing arginine reprograms the cells of the immune systemaround the tumor increasing the likelihood that they will attack and neutralize the cancer cells. The next steps involve investigating the safety and efficacy of using this therapeutic approach in humans in future clinical studies.

Source: YgeiaMou (in greek)

PRESS: Greek researchers are developing a treatment against the most aggressive brain tumor