Biomarker predicts effectiveness of brain cancer treatment

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a new biomarker that predicts whether glioblastoma – the most common form of primary brain cancer – will respond to chemotherapy. The findings are published in the July print issue of Oncotarget.

“Every patient diagnosed with glioblastoma is treated with a chemotherapy called temozolomide. About 15 percent of these patients derive long-lasting benefit,” said Clark C. Chen, MD, PhD, vice-chairman of Academic Affairs, Division of Neurosurgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine and the study’s principal investigator. “We need to identify which patients benefit from temozolomide and which another type of treatment. All therapies involve risk and the possibility of side-effects. Patients should not undergo therapies if there’s no likelihood of benefit.”

To pinpoint which patients were most likely respond to temozolomide, the researchers studied microRNAs that control the expression of a protein called methyl-guanine-methyl-transferase…