"Glioblastoma is the most lethal and malignant adult brain cancer that may arise from neuroglial stem or progenitor cells.
Certain gene mutations or those with a known history of other cancers and radiation therapy may predispose patients to develop brain cancer.
Tumour relapse is invariably inevitable due to the resistance of glioblastoma towards standard therapies. Additionally, the infiltrative nature of these tumour cells means it is often not possible to surgically remove them completely.
Researchers from NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine have discovered that the FDA-approved anti-fungal drug, sulconazole, exhibits anti-cancer properties towards glioblastoma cells."
"An in-depth investigation of this compound revealed that it competes with biotin (Vitamin H), an important co-factor for metabolic enzymes and modifier of histones, allowing it to inhibit the normal function of biotin-dependent metabolic enzymes and specific histone modification-associated gene expression.
Since biotin is found in various food sources, including legumes, egg yolk and offal, and commonly consumed as a supplement, these findings raise an important consideration of regulating biotin consumption in glioblastoma patients."
interestingly, the chemical structure of biotin is similar to that of lipoic acid, and there is some evidence that high concentrations of lipoic acid can compete with biotin for transport across cell membranes
