Blocking a protein called HMGB2 slowed a child brain tumor in mice
Original title: Synergistic antitumor effect of HMGB2 targeting combined with MDM2 inhibitor in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma therapy.
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 lab cells and in mice, not in people.
The short version
Scientists found a protein that helps a hard-to-treat child brain tumor grow, and blocking it slowed the tumor in mice.
What was studied. Researchers studied DIPG, a brain tumor in children. They tested DIPG cells in the lab and mice with DIPG tumors. They lowered a protein called HMGB2 and added a drug called RG7388.
What they found. DIPG cells had high levels of HMGB2. Healthy brainstem cells did not. Lowering HMGB2 slowed the cells from growing and made them die. Using both the HMGB2 blocker and the drug worked better than one alone. In mice, the pair slowed tumor growth and the mice lived longer.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: This points to a new target to aim at in DIPG, a tumor with very few options. If the work holds up, it could lead to new drugs that are then tested in people.
What it doesn't mean: This is early work. It was done in cells in a dish and in mice, not in children. It does not show that this helps a person. It is not a cure, and it is not something a doctor can offer today. Safety tests and human trials would have to come first, and that takes years.
Source: PubMed, September 15, 2026 · Read the original
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