A new drug slowed brain tumors in lab tests and in mice
Original title: Combining interstrand crosslinking agents with histone deacetylase inhibitors against high grade IDH mutant gliomas
How far along is this research?
This is a preprint. Other scientists have not checked it yet, so treat it as an early signal rather than an answer.
This was only done in lab cells and in mice, not in people.
The short version
A new drug still worked on tumor cells that had stopped responding to the usual drug.
What was studied. Researchers tested a new drug called KL-50 on IDH gene change: A small change in a tumor's IDH gene. It is the first thing your team looks at when naming an adult glioma, and it can affect which treatments are offered. Your pathology report says whether your tumor has it. See the glossary mutant glioma: A tumor that starts in the glial cells, the support cells of the brain and spinal cord. Gliomas are given a grade from 1 to 4 describing how the tumor is expected to behave. See the glossary cells grown from patients. They also gave KL-50 to mice with brain tumors, and paired it with a second drug called belinostat.
What they found. Some tumor cells lose a repair system, and the standard drug temozolomide: A chemotherapy taken as a capsule, used for some brain tumors. Your team checks your blood counts while you are on it. See the glossary worked much less well on them. KL-50 still slowed those cells down. Mice given KL-50 lived 194 days instead of 107.5 days. Two of eight treated mice had no tumor that could be seen 220 days after the tumor was placed.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: This is early lab work. It points to a possible new option for people whose tumors stop responding to temozolomide: A chemotherapy taken as a capsule, used for some brain tumors. Your team checks your blood counts while you are on it. See the glossary. No one can get KL-50 as a treatment today.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean a new treatment is ready. KL-50 has not been tested in people at all. Cells in a dish and mice are not the same as a person. Many drugs that work in mice never work in people. This is not a cure, and it is far from everyday care.
Source: bioRxiv (preprint), September 29, 2026 · Read the original
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