Brain tumor
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive (grade IV) and most common form of a malignant brain tumor. Even when aggressive multimodality therapy consisting of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgical excision is used, median survival is only 12–17 months. Standard therapy for glioblastoma multiforme consists of maximal surgical resection of the tumor, followed by radiotherapy between two and four weeks after the surgical procedure to remove the cancer, then by chemotherapy, such as temozolomide. Most patients with glioblastoma take a corticosteroid, typically dexamethasone, during their illness to relieve symptoms. Experimental treatments include targeted therapy, gamma knife radiosurgery, boron neutron capture therapy and gene therapy.
Prazosin
In cancer research, Prazosin triggered apoptosis of glioblastoma‐initiating cells and of their differentiated progeny, inhibited glioblastoma growth in orthotopic xenografts of patient‐derived glioblastoma‐initiating cells, and increased survival of glioblastoma‐bearing mice. Its activity occurred via a PKCδ‐dependent inhibition of the AKT pathway, which resulted in caspase‐3 activation. So, prazosin is a potential anti‐glioblastoma adjuvant drug. Clinical trials will be initiated to confirm these findings. Understanding the mechanism of action of prazosin may pave the way for the development of new potential treatments also for other cancers, since other cancer cells as well display altered PKCδ signaling, including those in colorectal, pancreatic and liver cancer.