Research funded by the Children's Tumor Foundation (https://doi.org/10.48105/pc.gr.88670) and recently published in Science Translational Medicine, has shown, in mouse models, the potential to treat neurofibromatosis type 2 tumors with the blood pressure medication losartan. Vestibular schwannomas, or noncancerous tumors along the nerves in the brain that are involved with hearing and balance, are a hallmark of NF2, and there are currently no FDA-approved drugs to treat these tumors or their associated hearling loss. Surgery and radiation therapy are currently the only options.
Using an NF2 mouse model, investigators found that losartan had several effects on vestibular schwannomas and the brain, reducing inflammatory signaling and swelling and thus preventing hearing loss, and increasing oxygen delivery to enhance the effectiveness of radiation therapy (which may help lower the radiation dose needed to control tumor growth and limit radiation-associated toxicities). These findings indicate that losartan warrants further study in clinical trials in patients with such tumors.
Through the NF2 Accelerator Initiative and the Drug Discovery Initiative, the Children's Tumor Foundation is committed to expanding the clinical drug pipeline, improving drug selection, and investing in gene therapy for all forms of NF.
Click here to read more from Massachsetts General Hospital's announcement.
Click here to read the published study in Science Translational Medicine.
