A tumor marker did not predict who does better on the drug regorafenib
Original title: AMPK Pathway Activation Markers in GBM: Expression Patterns and Clinical Associations in a Real-World Study.
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 looked back at records of real patients, and the marker is not ready to guide treatment.
The short version
Researchers checked if a protein in 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 tumors could show who might do better on one drug, and it could not.
What was studied. Researchers looked back at tumor samples from 174 people with 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 whose cancer had come back. Of them, 84 got the drug regorafenib and 90 got the drugs fotemustine or lomustine: A chemotherapy taken as a capsule, only occasionally rather than every day. It lowers blood counts weeks after a dose, which is why the doses are spaced out. See the glossary. The team checked the tumors for two proteins, called pACC and pAMPK.
What they found. The proteins showed up in most tumors, pACC in 85.6% and pAMPK in 95.4%. Neither protein was linked to how long people lived. People on regorafenib lived longer, 10.4 months compared with 6.3 months. But pACC did not show which people would do better on regorafenib.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: For now, doctors cannot use this protein test to pick a treatment. The finding helps scientists know this marker is not ready to guide care. More studies planned ahead of time are needed to check it.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean pACC is useless or that it will never help. It also does not prove regorafenib is better, since this study looked back at past records and was not a new trial. This is early research, far from everyday care. It is not a cure.
Source: PubMed, August 31, 2026 · Read the original
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