Lab study shows why some glioblastoma cells survive radiation
Original title: Metabolic Reprogramming in Glioblastoma Stem Cells Promotes Radiation Resistance Through a H3K18la/USP30/MBOAT2 Axis.
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 was only done in lab cells and in mice, not in people.
The short version
Scientists found one reason some brain tumor cells keep going after radiation.
What was studied. Researchers looked at glioblastoma: The fastest-growing type of glioma (grade 4). Treatment usually starts soon after diagnosis: surgery first, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary stem cells, a kind of tumor cell that resists radiation. They studied how these cells make energy, and they also tested treatments in mice with brain tumors.
What they found. The tumor cells burned sugar quickly and made a lot of a waste product called lactate. That lactate started a chain of steps inside the cell. The end of that chain changed the fats in the cell wall and protected the cell from a type of cell death. When the researchers blocked steps in the chain, the cells died more easily and radiation worked better. In mice, blocking two of the steps made radiation work better, and the mice did not lose an obvious amount of weight.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: This gives doctors a new target to aim at. If drugs can block this chain, radiation might work better for glioblastoma: The fastest-growing type of glioma (grade 4). Treatment usually starts soon after diagnosis: surgery first, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary. That idea still has to be tested.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean there is a new treatment. The work was done in cells in a lab and in mice, not in people. It is very early, and it is far from the care you get at a hospital today. It is not a cure, and it may never become one. Many findings like this do not hold up once they are tested in people.
Source: PubMed, August 12, 2026 · Read the original
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