Glioblastoma nanomedicine eradicates recurring brain cancer in mice: study

CHICAGO, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- A new synthetic protein nanoparticle capable of slipping past the nearly impermeable blood-brain barrier in mice could deliver cancer-killing drugs directly to malignant brain tumors, according to a study posted on the website of the University of Michigan (UM) on Tuesday.

Five years ago, UM researchers knew that stopping a signal that cancer cells send out, known as STAT3, to trick immune cells into granting them safe passage within the brain, the cancer cells would be exposed and the immune system could eliminate them. The problem was how to shut down that pathway with an inhibitor, a way to get past the blood-brain barrier.