Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain tumor in adults. The disease is 100% fatal and there are no cures, making it the most aggressive type of cancer. Such a poor prognosis has motivated researchers and neurosurgeons to understand the biology of tumors with the goal of creating better therapies.
Dominique Higgins, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, has heeded the call. Higgins and a team of researchers at Columbia University have found that glioblastoma tumor cells are particularly sensitive to ferroptosis — a type of cell death that can be triggered by removing certain amino acids from the diet.
“First, we found that when we take away certain amino acids in animal models that the glioblastoma cells are more likely to die by ferroptosis,” said Dr. Higgins. “Secondly, we found that removing these amino acids makes our drugs a lot more effective…
