Following the analysis of cells from 26 glioblastoma patients, a Canadian study has concluded that the healing process that kicks in after a stroke, trauma, infection or other brain injury, can actually trigger the development of these brain tumours.
Their findings suggest that mutations can derail the process which is supposed to create new cells to replace those that have been lost — and spur on tumour growth.
Paper author and neurosurgeon, Peter Dirks of The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, said: “Glioblastoma can be thought of as a wound that never stops healing. We’re excited about what this tells us about how cancer originates and grows and it opens up entirely new ideas about treatment by focusing on the injury and inflammation response.”
The team hope that the discovery may pave the way towards new tailored therapies for individual brain cancer patients.
Read more about this exciting work here.
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