NIH Identifies Mechanism and Possible Drug Treatment for NF Nerve Tumors
The following are excerpts from an October 30 NIH press release. To read the entire statement, please click here.
Researchers studying neurofibromatosis type 1 — a rare disease in which tumors grow within nerves — have found that the tumors are triggered by crosstalk between cells in the nerves and cells in the blood. The researchers, who were funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense (DOD), also found that a drug on the market for treating certain kinds of blood cancer curbs tumor growth in a mouse model of neurofibromatosis type 1. A clinical trial of the drug is underway in people with the disease.
Combined with previous findings, the new study suggests that the formation of plexiform neurofibromas requires two steps: complete loss of NF1 in Schwann cells (rendering them NF1 -/-) and an interaction between NF1 -/- Schwann cells and NF1+/- mast cells. While Schwann cells appear to be the primary tumor causing cell, mast cells appear to stimulate tumor growth by recruiting other cell types and blood vessels to the tumor.
