Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a sugar-coated nanoparticle that increased survival time by 50% in mice with glioblastoma, the most aggressive brain cancer. Currently, fewer than 30% of human patients survive two years post-diagnosis, but these mice are feeling optimistic.

The team, led by Oleh Taratula, Olena Taratula, and Yoon Tae Goo, packed lipid nanoparticles with mRNA to restore the tumor-suppressing protein PTEN, then coated them in mannose - a sugar that hitches a ride on the same transporter (GLUT1) that carries glucose across the blood-brain barrier. Since glioblastoma cells produce three times the normal levels of GLUT1, the particles preferentially accumulate in tumors after crossing into the brain.

"Blood contains relatively high concentrations of glucose, and that's what the nanoparticles are competing against for GLUT1's attention," Oleh Taratula noted. Their innovation: chemically linking mannose to cholesterol, boosting surface coverage sixfold. The result: tumor shrinkage without measurable organ toxicity in mice.

Glioblastoma affects about 3.19 per 100,000 people in the U.S., with a median diagnosis age of 64 and a five-year mortality rate above 95%. The study, published in the Journal of Controlled Release, was funded by the National Cancer Institute and others. No word yet on when human trials might begin, but the mice are ready.