A protein may explain why a common chemo drug stops working
Original title: Targeting Nectin-4 sensitizes glioblastoma to temozolomide.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was done in animals, not people. Most findings at this stage never become treatments.
This was only done in cells in a dish and in mice.
The short version
In lab tests, lowering one protein helped a common brain tumor chemo drug work better.
What was studied. Researchers used human glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary cells in a dish and mice with brain tumors. They looked at a protein called nectin-4 and how it changed the way the chemo 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. They also tested resveratrol, a plant compound.
What they found. 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 made the cells and the mouse tumors build up more nectin-4. When cells made extra nectin-4, they grew faster, and tumors in mice grew faster too. When nectin-4 was turned down, temozolomide worked better. Resveratrol lowered nectin-4 and blocked the rise caused by the chemo. Mice given both drugs had smaller tumors and lived longer than mice given only one.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Nectin-4 may be one reason 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 stops working for some people. That gives researchers a new target to study. It also raises the idea that resveratrol could one day help chemo work better.
What it doesn't mean: This work was done in cells and in mice, not in people. It does not show that resveratrol helps patients with brain tumors. It is not a cure and not a treatment you can ask for today. Please do not start resveratrol supplements on your own. Talk with your care team first. Tests in people would have to come next, and that takes years.
Source: PubMed, September 8, 2026 · Read the original
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