A protein that helps brain tumors build their own blood channels
Original title: FUCA1-Mediated Metabolic Adaptation Facilitates Lactylation-Induced Vasculogenic Mimicry in Glioblastoma.
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 and in animals, not in people.
The short version
Scientists found a protein that helps glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4. Grade 4 is the highest grade there is. The tumor grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, and then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary grow its own blood channels.
What was studied. Researchers studied glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4. Grade 4 is the highest grade there is. The tumor grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, and then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary cells and tumors in animals. They looked at a protein called FUCA1, and they tested a drug that blocks it.
What they found. FUCA1 was high in a type of glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4. Grade 4 is the highest grade there is. The tumor grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, and then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary cell that helps the tumor grow. It changed the way those cells make energy. That change let the cells form their own blood channels. A drug that blocks FUCA1 lowered tumor growth and these channels in animals. It also worked well with a drug that blocks blood vessel growth.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Some tumor cells can build their own blood channels. That may be one reason drugs aimed at blood vessels often stop helping. Blocking this protein might make those drugs work better. Right now this is only an early idea being tested.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean a new treatment is ready. The work was done in cells and in animals, not in people. The drug has not been tested in patients, so we do not know if it is safe or helpful for them. It is not a cure, and it is not something a doctor can offer today.
Source: PubMed, October 29, 2026 · Read the original
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