Glioblastoma Tumors Triggered by the Healing Process of Brain Injury

The growth of glioblastoma tumors can be linked to the healing process that follows a brain injury, the researchers in Canada said. They believe that mutations derailed the new cells generated during the healing process in brain injuries, such as trauma and infection or stroke, that were supposed to replace the lost cells.

The researchers said that their data suggest that right mutations in particular brain cells could be modified by injury, which would create tumors. Dr. Peter Dirks, Head of the Division of Neurosurgery and a Senior Scientist in the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology program at SickKids, said that glioblastoma could be thought of as a wound that never heals.

They think that by studying the origins of glioblastoma, they can know how cancer originates and grows as it opens up new ideas about cancer treatment. The study was headed by Dirks, molecular genetics professor Dr. Gary Bader, and senior scientist Dr. Trevor Pugh.

Glioblastoma Stem Cells Are Responsible for Tumor Growth

According to Mayo Clinic, glioblastoma is an aggressive type of cancer that can either be found in the brain or the spinal cord that forms cells called astrocytes that support nerve cells. Although it can occur at any age, glioblastoma more common in older adults.

Unfortunately, options for treating glioblastoma are still limited, and patients have an average lifespan of 15 months after diagnosis. The researchers said that it is mostly because of the extensive heterogeneity observed within tumors as they harbor diverse cells, such as the glioblastoma stem cells.

Dirk's team believes that glioblastoma stem cells are responsible for tumor growth and recurrence after treatment. After a series of tests, they confirmed that each tumor contains multiple subpopulations of cancer stem cells, making its recurrence more likely that existing therapies cannot wipe away.

Moreover, they found that glioblastoma stem cells were comingled with the cancer stem cells within the tumors, which indicates that glioblastoma is starting to form when the healing process begins as new cells replace the lost cells due to injury. Dirks said that once the mutant cell becomes involved in the healing process, it can no longer stop multiplying, spurs tumor growth.

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Developmental vs. Injury Response Tumor Growth

Further in their study, the researchers also classified two distinct molecular states that the tumors exhibited, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News reported. These are the "Developmental" and "Injury Response" states.

The Developmental state represents a hallmark of the glioblastoma stem cells, which is similar to the rapidly dividing stem cells in the growing brain of an infant after birth. On the other hand, the Injury Response state showed an increase in the number of immune pathways and inflammation makers that indicate a healing process.

Moreover, additional experiments established that the two states are at risk of various types of gene knockouts, which means that there are many therapeutic targets linked to inflammation that had not been previously linked to glioblastoma cells' growth.

The researchers found that the two states were patient-specific, which could lean toward the Developmental state of Injury Response state. Researchers are looking into these biases to make tailored therapies that are effective on different points of the two states.