UP TO 50 PERCENT OF BRAIN TUMORS RESISTANT TO STANDARD CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC AGENT TMZ
When a patient presents with a malignant glioblastoma, the current standard therapy is total resection surgery followed by radiation, either alone or in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy.1 Used to treat several types of cancer, orally-administered alkylating agent TMZ is known to inhibit cell reproduction by blocking the replication of DNA.2 Although it is less toxic than other alkylating agents, TMZ does not display efficacy in as many as 50 percent of brain tumors.3 Because of this, as well as the high rate of chemotherapy resistance in recurrent brain malignancies, there is an urgent need for new drugs for treatment-resistant tumors.4 Continue reading