Brain tumors can arise from neurons also, research finds

 Brain tumors can arise from neurons also, research finds

A study by researchers from the U.S. and Japan have made new discoveries about glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of skin cancer. They found that this type of cancer derives from various types of cells in the brain and not only from glial cells as previously thought.

Glioblastoma multiforme is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer of the nervous system. The prognosis of this cancer is poor, the average survival is about one year. Causes leading to glioblastoma formation are not fully known, but were put into question several factors. There seems to be a link between exposure to ionizing radiation and this form of cancer. There have also been studies that have shown that glioblastoma is triggered by a viral infection (cytomegalovirus) or a parasitic infection (Plasmodium, a parasite that causes malaria). In addition, it was found that the cancer is more common in men over 50 years.

Brain tumors

The symptoms of this cancer are: headache, vomiting, nausea, seizures. There are also a number of neurological manifestations caused by tumor compression exerted on certain lobes (frontal, temporal, etc.) such as paresis. It must be noted that this glioblastoma can develop asimptomatically and reach important sizes. This is a reason why some people reach the doctor in an advanced stage. Even with multimodal treatment (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy), chances of recovery are reduced. Therefore, researchers are investigating the mechanisms underlying this cancer to improve treatment methods.

A team of researchers led by Professor Inder Verma and Geneticist Dr. Dinorah Friedmann Morvinski, both of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies at La Jolla in California, studied glioblastoma multiforme in laboratory animals. To study glioblastoma development, researchers transferred oncogenes (genes responsible for malignant tumors) in mice with genetically modified viruses. Then, after the cancer has started to grow, the researchers transferred some tumor cells from healthy mice. They found that it took only 10 tumor cells to produce glioblastoma in healthy mice.

It must be said that this finding is new because until now it was thought that glioblastoma develop from glial cells. Glial cells are cells with the role of support and nutrition for neurons. This new finding shows that tumors may originate in several types of cells: glial cells, neural stem cells, neurons. Neurons can not divide, but they can become stem cells when stimulated by specific genes and thus transform into cells that can divide. Moreover, the study explains why glioblastoma is so difficult to treat and why the recurrences are  so frequently after surgery or chemotherapy.