{
  "id": 315829,
  "title": "Study points to new target for treating aggressive brain cancer",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/08/study-points-to-new-target-for-treating-aggressive-brain-cancer",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-08T15:40:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-aggressive-brain-cancer.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive and lethal forms of brain cancer, often resistant to conventional treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy. Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute have identified a potential new target for treating this devastating disease. By focusing on a protein called SET, they discovered that suppressing it prevents tumor formation in preclinical models. This SET protein, along with others including ANP32A, CIP2A, and PP2A, plays a crucial role in allowing glioblastoma cells to evade treatment and survive. When these proteins were blocked in both laboratory and animal experiments, tumor cells became less able to survive and showed increased sensitivity to radiation. The researchers believe that restoring PP2A activity could make glioblastoma cells more vulnerable to existing treatments, providing a promising avenue for future drug development. However, the findings are still preliminary and have not yet been tested in human patients. The team is now investigating the safety and efficacy of targeting these proteins with existing drugs, including an FDA-approved antipsychotic medication that can boost PP2A activity. While the drug is not ready for immediate use in patients, these results represent a significant step forward in understanding how to make current glioblastoma therapies more effective.",
  "summary": "A recent study from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute has identified SET as a potential new target for treating aggressive brain cancer, specifically glioblastoma. Researchers discovered that suppressing SET in preclinical models prevented tumor formation and made glioblastoma cells more sensitive to radiation. By blocking related proteins, the cancer cells also became more susceptible to radiation treatment. The study's findings suggest that targeting the PP2A pathway, which is suppressed by SET in glioblastoma cells, could make existing treatments more effective. However, the research is still in its preliminary stages and has not been tested in patients. The next step is to determine whether targeting SET or related PP2A-blocking proteins can be done safely and whether it improves the response to standard glioblastoma treatment.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}