A new Tel Aviv University (TAU) study may offer hope to the tens of thousands of people diagnosed with ‘untreatable’ brain tumors every year. There are no effective available treatments for sufferers of Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive and devastating form of brain tumor. And the fatal disease has a survival rate of only six-18 months. But new research out of Israel has promising results.

“I was approached by a neurosurgeon insistent on finding a solution, any solution, to a desperate situation,” said Prof. Dan Peer of TAU’s Department of Department of Cell Research and Immunology and Scientific Director of TAU’s Center for NanoMedicine. Prof. Zvi Cohen [Director of the Neurosurgical Oncology Unit at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer] heard about my earlier nanoscale research and suggested using it as a basis for a novel mechanism with which to treat gliomas.”

Peer’s new research is based on a nanoparticle platform, which transports drugs to target sites while minimizing adverse effects on the rest of the body. Peer and his team of researchers tested the therapy in mouse models affected with gliomas and control groups treated with standard forms of chemotherapy. The results were, according to the researchers, astonishing. Peer said “While it is in early stages, the data is so promising — it would be a crime not to pursue it.” (via Israel21c)

Peer has previously been recognized for his revolutionary work in using nanotechnology to treat cancer.

[Photo: LeighAnn Graham / YouTube ]