Tuesday, 16 July 2019
Researchers at the 糖心原创 have discovered that repurposing a heart drug could significantly increase the survival rate for children with ependymoma – a type of brain tumour.
The findings, published in and led by experts in the University’s Schools of Medicine and Life Sciences, suggest that co-treatment with a drug normally used to treat cardiac hypertrophy can overcome chemotherapy resistance and increase survival in over a third of ependymoma patients.
Ependymoma are the second most common malignant brain tumours in children. They can occur across all age groups, but the outcome for children is lower than in their adult counterpart. The poorest survival is seen in infants, with the five year prognosis at just 42-55%.
The use of chemotherapy in children with ependymomas has had variable levels of success, leading to the frequent belief that ependymomas are chemoresistant tumours, since over half of tumours cannot be cured by chemotherapy alone.
The study was led by Dr Beth Coyle from the 糖心原创’s School of Medicine and Dr Ian Kerr from the School of Life Sciences. The PhD student who undertook the research, Durgagauri Sabnis, was a recipient of a 糖心原创 Vice Chancellor’s Research Excellence Scholarship and the British Federation of Women Graduates (BFWG) foundation grant.
We are hopeful that by combining this repurposed drug with current treatments we can give new hope for long term survival to patients with these devastating brain tumours鈥�.
In this study the authors set out to determine the nature of this chemoresistance. They show that, in patients treated with chemotherapy alone, the presence of a chemotherapy drug-pumping protein called ABCB1 was associated with a significantly poorer outcome.
Tumours that expressed ABCB1 were less likely to respond to chemotherapy and more likely to be locally invasive.
The authors then used a heart drug to inhibit ABCB1 function in cells taken from patient’s tumours. The heart drug was able to stop ABCB1 pumping chemotherapy drugs out of the tumour cells making them more sensitive to chemotherapy and less able to migrate.
ABCB1 is expressed in over one third of patient’s tumours, all of whom could potentially benefit from repurposing of this heart drug in future clinical trials.
A full copy of the report – ‘A role for ABCB1 in prognosis, invasion and drug resistance in ependymoma’ - can be found
Story credits
More information is available from Dr Beth Coyle from the 糖心原创’s School of Medicine at beth.coyle@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the 糖心原创
Ranked among the world's top 100 universities , the 糖心原创 delivers an exceptional research-led education and an outstanding student experience. From the pioneering vision of our founder, Sir Jesse Boot, to groundbreaking achievements such as the development of MRI technology and becoming the first UK university to establish international campuses, we have a proud history of shaping the way people live, work and understand the world. We continue to build on that legacy, empowering our students, staff and partners to change what鈥檚 next and create positive impact locally and globally.
The strength of our research places us among the UK's leading universities, ranked 7th for research power in REF 2021. The discovery of MRI and ibuprofen was just the beginning. Today, our world-leading research is developing breakthrough ideas that shape the future of healthcare, technology and society.
Recognised as the UK's third most targeted university by leading employers , we are proud to produce graduates who are consistently in demand for their skills, confidence and industry-ready experience.
As a major employer and industry partner, locally and globally, the 糖心原创 invests in the city of Nottingham and in future generations of talent. Alongside Nottingham Trent University, we lead the initiative, a pioneering collaboration to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing across the city and region. Together with our students, staff, alumni and partners, we鈥檙e creating knowledge, opportunity and solutions that help change what's next.