WEDNESDAY, Aug. 24, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- For decades, efforts to treat brain cancer have been stymied by the fact that the brain is protected with a natural shield called the blood-brain barrier -- making it tough for tumor-fighting drugs to get through.
But now, researchers say they have identified a cancer-killing compound that can sneak past the barrier, a discovery that could help doctors better treat a range of invasive brain malignancies.
The blood brain barrier protects the brain from foreign substances, but this compound -- JV-1-36 -- was able to get through the barrier and into the brain of lab mice, according to a study published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The bottom line is, if you can get drugs into the brain, you can cure brain cancer," research team member Dr. William A. Banks, a professor of geriatrics and of pharmacological and physiological science at St. Louis University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.
"Most of our drugs that fight cancers are toxic to cancer cells and to other cells, too," Banks added. "That's why the blood brain barrier locks them out of the brain."
The compound JV-1-36 attacks a hormone that causes the release of hypothalamic growth hormone, which has been found to cause cancerous tumors.
More information
For more on brain tumors, head to the American Cancer Society.
