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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
A chink in glioblastoma's armor? Scientists at Ohio State University have identified a protein called SET that, when blocked, prevents glioblastoma tumors from forming and makes cancer cells more sensitive to radiation. The strategy works by restoring an enzyme called PP2A, which brain tumor cells normally suppress to survive treatment. Results are preclinical, but researchers say this opens a clear path toward making radiation and chemotherapy more effective.
Glioblastoma is one of the deadliest cancers known, and its treatment has barely budged in decades — largely because these tumors are remarkably good at shrugging off radiation and chemotherapy. Now, researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC - James) may have found a biological weak spot worth exploiting.
The team zeroed in on PP2A, an enzyme that normally helps regulate cell growth and survival signals. Glioblastoma cells suppress PP2A using three proteins — ANP32A, CIP2A, and SET — essentially disabling a natural brake on tumor survival. When researchers blocked these proteins in lab and animal models, fewer cancer cells survived, and the ones that did became significantly more vulnerable to radiation. Blocking SET, in particular, was enough to prevent tumor formation altogether.
Why it matters: Glioblastoma patients desperately need better options. This research doesn't require inventing new treatments from scratch — it's about making existing therapies work harder by stripping away the tumor's defenses. Human trials will be needed, but the findings, published in Cancer Letters (May 2026), offer a concrete new direction for one of oncology's toughest challenges.
