A blood vessel marker drops after bevacizumab, and more immune cells move in
Original title: Association between PLVAP downregulation and increased lymphocyte infiltration in newly diagnosed glioblastoma treated with bevacizumab.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This was a small study of tumor tissue from people, not a test of a new treatment.
The short version
In some glioblastoma: The fastest-growing type of glioma (grade 4). Treatment usually starts soon after diagnosis: surgery first, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary tumors, a drug called bevacizumab changed the tumor's blood vessels, and more immune cells were found inside the tumor.
What was studied. Researchers looked at brain tumor tissue from 10 people with glioblastoma: The fastest-growing type of glioma (grade 4). Treatment usually starts soon after diagnosis: surgery first, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary who had been given bevacizumab. They stained the tissue to check a blood vessel protein called PLVAP, and to count immune cells in the tumor.
What they found. PLVAP was found widely in the blood vessels of tumors that had not been treated. After bevacizumab, PLVAP was lower. It dropped a lot in 3 of the 10 treated cases. In the treated tumors with low PLVAP, there were more T cells, a type of immune cell that can attack tumors. Another immune cell type did not differ in a clear way between the groups.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Bevacizumab may change tumor blood vessels in a way that lets more immune cells reach the tumor, at least in some people. PLVAP might one day help doctors tell which tumors those are, by looking at tissue under a microscope.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean a new treatment. It is not a cure, and it is not a promise of one. This was a small look at tissue from only 10 people who had already been treated. No one was given a new drug here, and no one was followed to see if they lived longer or felt better. PLVAP is not a test your doctor can order for this purpose. Much larger studies would be needed before any of this changes everyday care.
Source: PubMed, July 20, 2026 · Read the original
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