{"id":207349,"date":"2025-12-29T21:58:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T21:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/207349\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T21:58:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T21:58:23","slug":"supplement-mix-helps-reduce-tumor-aggressiveness-in-deadly-brain-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/207349\/","title":{"rendered":"Supplement mix helps reduce tumor aggressiveness in deadly brain cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ThreeScientists have taken a new approach to treat brain cancer with the help of two supplements. Elena Popova\/Getty Images
This article originally appeared on Medical News Today<\/a><\/p>\n

A combination of two supplements \u2014 resveratrol and copper \u2014 reduced the aggressiveness of glioblastoma brain tumors in a small new study.<\/p>\n

Glioblastoma is among the most deadly and treatment-resistant cancers.<\/p>\n

The study provides support for the concept of treating and \u201chealing\u201d cancer tumors rather than trying to kill them outright.<\/p>\n

Patients also reported no side effects from the resveratrol\/copper treatment.<\/p>\n

It may be possible to coax some of the most deadly brain cancer<\/a> cells into a sort of healing, rather than simply trying \u2014 and often failing \u2014 to destroy them. This is the finding of a new study from the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai.<\/p>\n

The study found that tablets containing resveratrol and copper appeared to positively affect a variety of biomarkers in glioblastoma tumors.<\/p>\n

The patients took tablets containing the nutraceuticals four times a day for an average of 11.6 days leading up to previously scheduled surgeries, during which their tumors were removed. They were then compared to tumors from similar glioblastoma patients who did not receive tablets.<\/p>\n

The patients taking the tablets reported no side effects.<\/p>\n

The researchers\u2019 hypothesis was that the combination of resveratrol and copper would produce oxygen radicals capable of deactivating cell-free chromatin particles released by dying glioblastoma cells. These particles aggravate living glioblastoma cells, making them more destructive.<\/p>\n

The treated resveratrol\/copper glioblastoma cells exhibited several promising changes:<\/p>\n

Levels of Ki-67 were nearly one-third lower in the treated tumors \u2014 Ki67 is a protein that serves as an indicator of the speed at which glioblastoma cells are dividing, and thus the cancer\u2019s aggressiveness.<\/p>\n

A set of nine biomarkers recognized as the \u201challmarks of cancer\u201d were detected in 57% fewer cells.<\/p>\n

Six of the body\u2019s immune checkpoints, which inhibit the body from attacking cancer cells, were reduced by 41% in the tumors.<\/p>\n

There was a reduction of 56% in markers linked to stem cells that allow glioblastoma to spread as quickly as it does, and to resist treatment so stubbornly.<\/p>\n

The study is published in BJC Reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What is glioblastoma?<\/p>\n

Glioblastoma<\/a> is a highly aggressive form of brain cancer and is very difficult to treat using current methodologies, explained the study\u2019s senior investigator, Professor Indraneel Mittra, MBBS, PhD<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current treatment policies for glioblastoma, which include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, are not very effective, with many patients dying within 15 months. Since the time of the ancient Greeks, we have attempted, with limited success, to kill cancer cells,\u201d Mittra said.<\/p>\n

Walavan Sivakumar, MD<\/a>, director of neurosurgery at Providence Little Company of Mary in Torrance, CA, who was not involved in the study, painted a similarly dark picture.<\/p>\n

Sivakumar said that for glioblastoma, \u201csurvival gains have been modest at best, without any \u2018silver bullets\u2019 on the horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStandard-of-care surgery, radiation, and temozolomide,\u201d he said, \u201cstill yield median survival around 12\u201318 months, with only a small fraction of long-term survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking for a better treatment for brain cancer<\/p>\n

After millennia of attempting to kill cancer cells, said Mittra, \u201cPerhaps it\u2019s time to adopt a new perspective on cancer treatment, focusing on tumor healing rather than tumor destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe concept of healing originated with a 1986 essay in the New England Journal of Medicine<\/a> by Dr. Harold Dvorak, who suggested that cancer and non-healing wounds are strikingly similar. Indeed, there are many similarities between the two,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n

Said Sivakumar, \u201cresearch increasingly shows that altering cancer behavior \u2014 whether via the tumor microenvironment, metabolic pathways, or stress responses \u2014 can affect growth and progression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStrategies like differentiation therapy in leukemia and modulation of tumor oxidative stress<\/a> and signaling pathways, have demonstrated proof-of-concept that modifying cancer biology, rather than only killing cells outright, can be therapeutically valuable,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal here is to turn cancer into a chronic disease,\u201d said Sivakumar.<\/p>\n

How resveratrol and copper work together<\/p>\n

Sivakumar described the study\u2019s novel idea as using resveratrol and copper to \u201ccreate controlled oxidative stress inside glioblastoma cells.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fundamentally different concept than traditional chemotherapy \u2014 it doesn\u2019t rely on directly killing every dividing cell, but on exploiting specific biochemical vulnerabilities. However, these findings are preclinical and not yet validated in patients.\u201d
\u2014 Walavan Sivakumar, MD<\/p>\n

Nitesh Patel, MD<\/a>, is co-director of the Neurosurgical Oncology program at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, who was not involved in the study. He described this action as propagating \u201cthe known concept of [the] bystander effect<\/a>: as the resveratrol and copper combo damages one cell, it propagates damage as the dying cells release toxins to promote eradication of other cancer cells.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key finding here,\u201d he said, \u201cis that the study shows that resveratrol can be \u2018flipped\u2019 in function and go from an antioxidant<\/a> to DNA-damaging agent when coupled with copper.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the study is credible and results should be taken positively,\u201d Patel said, \u201chowever, only in the context of opening a new pathway to be studied more extensively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the current study, Patel said, \u201cStudy size is the biggest factor. The study is not a randomized controlled trial, the gold standard. It has a short treatment timeline and no specific endpoints. Further, it assumes some biochemical mechanisms, which is necessary for this type of study.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larger trials needed<\/p>\n

Going forward from these early, potentially promising results, \u201cIf a larger, randomized, blinded, controlled trial validated these results, it could translate to a big reframe of glioblastoma treatment and provide a low-cost solution for patients,\u201d said Patel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings encourage us to think beyond traditional cytotoxic approaches. They point to a future where therapies modulate cancer cell biology \u2014 inducing dormancy, altering stress responses, or targeting adaptive mechanisms \u2014 rather than merely killing cells.\u201d
\u2014 Walavan Sivakumar, MD<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially for tumors like glioblastoma that resist standard treatments,\u201d according to Sivakumar, \u201cthis conceptual shift may open new avenues for combination strategies that enhance efficacy without adding undue toxicity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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