Glioblastoma, with an average survival rate of only five years, is the most common and aggressive type of brain tumor. It affects over 50% of all brain tumor victims and is infamous for being highly resistant to traditional cancer therapies, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. Dr. Gordon Gribble of Dartmouth College has lead a team of researchers to discovering a high performance compound that can kill 50% of glioblastoma cells at its lowest dosages. In experiments run so far, this recently patented drug can out-perform current anti-brain cancer drugs on the market such as Procarbazine, Nitrosourea, and Carmustine. This new drug has a cytotoxic effect on cancerous cells by binding tightly to their DNA and poisoning the cell through a process called bis-intercalation, in which the DNA is double-binded and the cell cannot replicate because its DNA fails to unravel (due to the double binding of the two strands of DNA).

The figure above shows a green molecule bis-intercalated to DNA.  This demonstrates how the nucleotides can adjust their bonding in reaction to a chemical reagent.

The researchers are continuing to perform in vitro studies on this anti-brain cancer drug with a partnership through PhytoMedical Technologies, Inc. (located in Princeton, NJ).

For more detailed information, please see PhytoMedical’s press release.

-Amy Shah