Microtubes connecting brain tumor cells allow a specific type of brain cancer, known as gliomas, to spread quickly and become resistant to radiation therapy, a new study shows. This knowledge will allow researchers to target for future treatment efforts.
These microtubes allow cancerous cells to reach out and form connections, allowing them to grow as a single organism. By growing as a single unit the cells became highly resistant to radiation therapy, and will remain in the brain after other types of cancerous cells have died.
The researchers found that a certain protein is responsible for these microtubes, providing a new target that may help slow the growth and reduce the fatality of gliomas.
Original research paper published in Nature on November 4, 2015.
An accompanying commentary was published in Nature on November 4, 2015.
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