The drug, called lumefantrine, may improve the success rate of radiation and chemotherapy treatments for a severe type of brain cancer.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an especially aggressive form of cancer that is difficult to treat. With currently available therapies, the 5-year survival rate for people with GBM is 5.6%.
Doctors currently have no way of preventing the recurrence of the disease. Experts estimate that malignant brain tumors and cancers of the central nervous system — 81% of which are glioblastomas — kill 241,000 people each year worldwide. New research finds that lumefantrine, a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to combat malaria, can enhance the effectiveness of the primary drug used to treat GBM.