Brain cancer cells follow predictable rules, raising hopes for new treatments

Brain cancer cells follow predictable rules, raising hopes for new treatments

Brain cancer cells follow predictable rules, raising hopes for new treatments

Two studies in Nature show that glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer, does not change between cell states at random. Analysing more than one million cells from 12 patients, researchers mapped predictable routes between states and built a deep-learning tool, scDORI, to find the regulators behind them. They identified safeguard regulators, including MYT1L, that can lock tumour cells into a less changeable state; boosting MYT1L reduced tumour growth and improved survival in mice. The approach is still experimental and is a potential treatment strategy, not yet a therapy for patients.

Two studies in Nature show that glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer, does not change between cell states at random. Analysing more than one million cells from 12 patients, researchers mapped predictable routes between states and built a deep-learning tool, scDORI, to find the regulators behind them. They identified safeguard regulators, including MYT1L, that can lock tumour cells into a less changeable state; boosting MYT1L reduced tumour growth and improved survival in mice. The approach is still experimental and is a potential treatment strategy, not yet a therapy for patients.

Two studies in Nature show that glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer, does not change between cell states at random. Analysing more than one million cells from 12 patients, researchers mapped predictable routes between states and built a deep-learning tool, scDORI, to find the regulators behind them. They identified safeguard regulators, including MYT1L, that can lock tumour cells into a less changeable state; boosting MYT1L reduced tumour growth and improved survival in mice. The approach is still experimental and is a potential treatment strategy, not yet a therapy for patients.