Professor H. Phillip Koeffler led the study and his team found that patients with a lower level of BCL6 protein had higher survival rates when compared to patients with increased BCL6 expression.
The results of the study suggest that BCL6 could be a target for future treatments. It is possible that controlling the levels and activities of BCL6 could maybe contribute to other treatments for glioblastoma.
The study specifically explored the relationship between BCL6 and AXL. AXL is a glioblastoma –promoting gene that is enhanced by BCL6 and its partner NCoR. This partnership enhances AXL expression and in turn contributes to the development of GBM.
Prof Koeffler said,“Our study established BCL6 as a potential prognostic marker to predict overall survival of glioblastoma patients.
“We also found that by specifically interfering with BCL6 function to disrupt the BCL6-NCoR interaction, the fatal characteristics of glioblastoma cells are constrained, thus restricting them from multiplying and spreading.
“Moving forward, we are looking into developing novel small-molecule inhibitors to restrain BCL6 activity, which could potentially be a promising strategy for glioblastoma treatment.”
Glioblastoma multiforme is an especially aggressive cancer and is highly resistant to traditional therapies. This discovery of the BCL6 protein could produce promising strategies for future treatments.