US scientists, led by Indian, make pathbreaking discovery that could improve lives of brain cancer patients

In a pathbreaking finding that could bring in a fundamental change in the treatment of cancerous brain tumours, a team of scientists from the San Francisco Medical Centre, University of California, discovered that the cancerous cells link up with healthy brain cells to become hyperactive and cause speedy cognitive loss and death in patients. This unexpected finding showed that the deadly cancer cells can hijack and restructure connections in surrounding brain tissue to make them hyperactive, speeding up cognitive decline and shortening the survival period among patients. This forced the scientists to carry out extensive biological characterisation of the connected tumour cells, using brain organoids (small bundles of neurons derived from human stem cells and mouse models engrafted with human glioblastoma cells. "Non-invasive brain modulation techniques traditionally applied to modulate neuronal function in epilepsy and psychiatric diseases, could now be exploited in clinical trials and tested in patients with brain cancer to suppress glioma’s activity," Saritha said.