Advancing Glioblastoma Treatments

Glioblastoma is an aggressive, grade IV astrocytoma, affecting around 12,000 Americans each year. Despite a standard treatment plan of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy with temozolomide, 90% of patients face tumor regrowth within two years, leading to a poor prognosis and a median survival of just 14.6 months post-diagnosis. This malignancy grows rapidly, invading nearby brain tissue and posing significant challenges to effective treatment.

One of the main hurdles in glioblastoma treatment is the presence of glioma stem cells—cells within the tumor with self-renewing, stem-like properties that contribute to treatment resistance and recurrence. At Acomhal Research, we have developed a new cancer drug that targets glioblastoma cells, including these resilient glioma stem cells, while preserving healthy brain tissue.

Our innovative drug is a mimetic peptide derived from a key segment of Cx43, a protein crucial to cell-to-cell communication. By targeting and disrupting Cx43 interactions within cancer cells, this therapy effectively hinders the pathways that allow tumor growth and spread, offering a new approach to combating glioblastoma and its high recurrence rates.