Healthy brain cells may feed glioblastoma through tiny tubes
Original title: Astrocytes support glioblastoma cells via tunnelling nanotubes.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was done on cells in a lab, not in people. It is a very early step.
This is early lab science about how cells act, not something a patient can get.
The short version
Normal brain support cells may help 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, through very thin tube-like links.
What was studied. This report looks at astrocyte: A star-shaped helper cell in the brain and spinal cord. It is one of the glial cells that sit around nerve cells. An astrocytoma starts in these. See the glossary, a kind of support cell in the brain. It looks at how they connect to 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 through tiny tubes called tunnelling nanotubes.
What they found. The report says astrocyte: A star-shaped helper cell in the brain and spinal cord. It is one of the glial cells that sit around nerve cells. An astrocytoma starts in these. See the glossary support 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. The link is made by these tiny tubes. No summary of the full study was available to us, so we cannot share any numbers or further details.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: It points to one way a tumor may get help from the brain around it. That may be part of why 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 is so hard to treat. It does not change care today.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a treatment, and it is not a cure. It is early science about how cells behave, not a test of any drug in people. Nothing here tells you what to ask for at your next visit. Work like this takes many years, and most of it never becomes a therapy.
Source: PubMed, October 9, 2026 · Read the original
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