A world team led by the Department of Neurosurgery, Niigata University, has identified a latest gene called Schlafen11 (SLFN11) whose expression is tightly correlated with response to chemotherapy in medulloblastomas, a highly malignant brain tumor affecting pediatric, adolescent, and young adult populations.

The team led by Dr. Manabu Natsumeda, first noticed that SLFN11 is very expressed in just about all cases of WNT-activated medulloblastomas, which is the molecular subgroup with one of the best prognosis. Further studies using medulloblastoma cell lines showed that genetically manipulating SLFN11 led to drastic changes in response to cisplatin, a key drug for treating this deadly tumor. “Some cases of medulloblastomas respond higher to treatment than others, but we didn’t why.

We will now higher anticipate which cases will reply to chemotherapy. We even found that through the use of a unique drug called HDAC inhibitor, we will increase SLFN11 levels in tumors and make them more aware of cisplatin.” explains Dr. Natsumeda. The outcomes of the study were published online within the journal Neuro-Oncology on October 23, 2022.

Source:

Journal reference:

Nakata, S., et al. (2022) Epigenetic upregulation of Schlafen11 renders WNT- and SHH- activated medulloblastomas sensitive to cisplatin. Neuro-Oncology. doi.org/10.1093/neuonc/noac243.