The Potential of Helianthin Loaded Into Magnetic Nanoparticles to Induce Cytotoxicity in Glioblastoma Cells.

The central nervous system tumors are the most common solid tumors in adults.. Unlike other types of cancers, brain cancer is much difficult to treat because of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that prevents drug substances from crossing it and accessing the brain. Different types of methods to overcome BBB have been used in vivo and in vitro, of which the use of nanoparticle-mediated delivery of therapeutic drugs is particularly promising. In the present study, we used iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) as carrier system for helianthin (He/NPs) to treat cancer cells derived from glioblastoma. An early passage cell cultures (GB1B), established in our laboratory from tissue obtained from a patient diagnosed with glioblastoma, was used. The cells were treated with different concentrations of NPs or HeNPs and then cell proliferation was measured at 24, 48 and 72 hours. Our results showed that the treatment with NPs was well tolerated by glioblastoma cells, the viability of the cells increased very slightly after the treatment. Furthermore, we demonstrated that helianthin loaded Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles induced cytotoxicity in human glioblastoma cells. The treatment with HeNPs induced dose and time dependent.

The effect of temozolomide in combination with doxorubicin in glioblastoma cells in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Prior to 2000, the DNA alkylating agents nitrosoureas were used as standard treatment of glioblastoma. Current treatments for glioblastoma patients consist of surgery followed by radiation in combination with temozolomide. Despite therapeutic advances, the prognosis for glioblastoma patients remains grim, with a five-year overall survival below 15%. In this study, our team analyzed the interaction between temozolomide and doxorubicin in a glioblastoma cell line, in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The cell line, established from a patient who underwent surgery at the "Bagdasar Arseni Emergency Hospital", was exposed to 10 µM and 100 µM of temozolomide and 10 nM and 100 nM of doxorubicin, respectively, over a period of 7, 10 and 14 days, in monotherapy and in combination. RESULTS: The results showed that both temozolomide (66.5% cytotoxicity for the 10 µM dose at 14 days) de and doxorubicin (66.8% cytotoxicity for the 10 nM dose after 14 days) were very effective in killing cancer cells in monotherapy, but failed to produce a synergistic effect when used in combination. CONCLUSION: While the results may be discouraging, they present an interesting prospect into how certain drug interactions can impact treatment response.

Receptor tyrosine kinase targeting in glioblastoma: performance, limitations and future approaches.

From all central nervous system tumors, gliomas are the most common. Nowadays, researchers are looking for more efficient treatments for these tumors, as well as ways for early diagnosis. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are major targets for oncology and the development of small-molecule RTK inhibitors has been proven successful in cancer treatment. Mutations or aberrant activation of the RTKs and their intracellular signaling pathways are linked to several malignant diseases, including glioblastoma. The progress in the understanding of malignant glioma evolution has led to RTK targeted therapies with high capacity to improve the therapeutic response while reducing toxicity. In this review, we present the most important RTKs (i.e. EGFR, IGFR, PDGFR and VEGFR) currently used for developing cancer therapeutics together with the potential of RTK-related drugs in glioblastoma treatment. Also, we focus on some therapeutic agents that are currently at different stages of research or even in clinical phases and proved to be suitable as re-purposing candidates for glioblastoma treatment.

Assessment of efficacy of dendritic cell therapy and viral therapy in high grade glioma clinical trials. A meta-analytic review.

In recent years, immunotherapy has raised the interest of many studies and provided different perspectives for the therapeutic management of high grade glioma. Our meta-analysis focused on the effectiveness of dendritic cell (DC) therapy and viral therapy (VT) in clinical trials. Fourteen eligible studies have been evaluated and the results suggest the improvement of both OS (HR = 0.65) (p < 0.0001) and PFS (HR = 0.59) (p = 0.01) for patients receiving DC therapy. The data for VT showed a slight improvement in terms of OS (HR = 0.81), while PFS was similar to the control arms (HR = 1.06) (p = 0.41).