Glioblastoma multiforme actually four distinct diseases

Last week it was reported that researchers at University of North Carolina found that glioblastoma multiforme brain tumors may form in different types of cells and require different therapies. The finding could help doctors more effectively treat brain tumors, reports AFP:

This finding could help understand which types of cells undergo changes that are ultimately responsible for initial cancer formation, key to crafting targeted and effective treatment regimens.

Each subtype reacted differently to aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, the researchers found, which would mean that certain classes of drugs would work for some subtypes of brain tumors and not others.

Patients with one GBM subtype treated with aggressive chemotherapy and radiation seemed to be affected at a rate about 50 percent slower than those treated with less aggressive therapy.

These kind of breakthroughs are exactly what we need to outsmart brain cancer. Anne and the Brains on Bikes team will work hard this year to raise money for institutions making these important discoveries.