However, this is a controversial opinion, with recent in-depth studies failing to find an association between viral infection and glioma growth. There is also evidence that previous studies may have been impacted by false-positive antibody staining artifacts. Other causes
Though some studies have shown that farmers have higher rates of gliomas compared to the general population, exposure to farm animals or manure is not associated with glioma. Later studies have not found an association between farming and gliomas; similar conflicting data concerns teachers and glioma. More consistent data show that architects, surveyors, retail workers, butchers, and engineers have higher rates of gliomas. Most studies have found that pesticide exposure is probably not a cause of glioma, though a minority of studies have found an association. Inherited polymorphisms of the DNA repair genes
Germ-line (inherited) polymorphisms of the DNA repair genes ERCC1, ERCC2 (XPD) and XRCC1 increase the risk of glioma. This indicates that altered or deficient repair of DNA damage contributes to the formation of gliomas. DNA damages are a likely major primary cause of progression to cancer in general. Excess DNA damages can give rise to mutations through translesion synthesis. Furthermore, incomplete DNA repair can give rise to epigenetic alterations or epimutations. Such mutations and epimutations may provide a cell with a proliferative advantage which can then, by a process of natural selection, lead to progression to cancer.Epigenetic repression of DNA repair genes is often found in progression to sporadic glioblastoma.
Onasemnogene abeparvovec, sold under the brand name Zolgensma, is a gene therapy medication used to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). It is used as a one-time infusion into a vein.Onasemnogene abeparvovec works by providing a new copy of the gene that makes the human SMN protein.The treatment must be accompanied by a course of corticosteroids of at least two months. Common side effects include vomiting and increased liver enzymes.Onasemnogene abeparvovec was first approved for medical use in the United States in 2019 as a treatment for children less than two years old. It was later approved in other jurisdictions with similar scope. The approval scope in certain jurisdictions, including the European Union and Canada, is somewhat different. Medical uses
Onasemnogene abeparvovec has been developed to treat spinal muscular atrophy, a disease linked to a mutation in the SMN1 gene on chromosome 5q and diagnosed predominantly in young children that causes progressive loss of muscle function and frequently death. The medication is administered as an intravenous infusion.The treatment is approved in the United States and certain other countries for use in children with spinal muscular atrophy up to the age of two, including at the presymptomatic stage of the disease. In the European Union and Canada, it is indicated for the treatment of patients with spinal muscular atrophy who either have a clinical diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy type 1 or have up to three copies of the SMN2 gene.The medication is used with corticosteroids in an effort to protect the liver.