A group of scientists and researchers from Columbia University Medical Center have found a gene that, when lost, leads to a more aggressive type of brain cancer called glioblastoma.
Glioblastoma are those tumors that develop in the astrocytes of the brain. Although it happens mostly in the cerebral part of the brain, it can also affect other areas, including the spinal cord.
The team behind the discovery used a special algorithm that looked into how the various genes are connected and communicate with one another. Using a statistical model and this algorithm, they have found out that when a certain type of gene known as KLHL9 is missing, glioblastoma then becomes more aggressive.
To date, glioblastoma as a poor prognosis with only 10% reaching the 5-year median survival rate. It is quite difficult to treat since the tumor makeup can be very complex.
To reverse the situation, the missing gene simply has to be reintroduced via a protein structure, which they did by transplanting it on mice. The protein then suppressed the growth of the tumor.
Interestingly the researchers used the same process to identify gene variants or regulators that are present in other types of cancer such as breast cancer and dementia.
The researchers believed that all diseases are regulated by specific gene or biomarkers that determine how they develop and spread. Using these technological and scientific models, they may be able to identify more of these kinds, allowing the health care industry create a more accurate and reliable kinds of treatment.
Meanwhile, a 29-year-old woman plans her own death after she learned that her glioblastoma became terminal. Brittany Maynard was suffering from severe headaches for months before she was diagnosed with the aggressive brain cancer in New Year's Day this year. She was given 10 years to live. She underwent a cranial surgery, but they later discovered hers was the most aggressive, shortening her life to only a few months.
Instead of going to a hospice and suffer long, she moved her family from California to Oregon to take advantage of the death with dignity law. She has scheduled her death on November 1, a few days after her husband's birthday, using a pill provided by a doctor.