Page 10 - Palm City Spotlight - April '24
P. 10

Page 10, Palm City Spotlight

          cleveland clinic Martin HealtH neWs




      Minor Head Injuries No Small                      a number that is
      Affair For Seniors                                constantly increasing
                                                        as new discoveries
                                                        are  made.  Treating
      New Treatment For Leaky Blood Vessels In          virus-induced cancers
      The Brain                                         with standard  cancer
                                                        therapies can help shrink
        Any knock to the head, be it from a car accident, slip   tumors that are already
      on the pickleball court, or fall from a chair, is no small   there, but it doesn’t fix
      affair. Especially for older adults who experience head   the underlying problem
      trauma. They are at greater risk of an increasingly common   of the virus,” said
      neurological condition caused by leaky blood vessels in   Jun Zhao, Ph.D., of
      the brain.                                        Cleveland Clinic Florida
        Called a subdural hematoma, it occurs when a blow   Research & Innovation
      to the head tears blood vessels between the brain and the   Center. “Understanding
      skull. Blood then leaks, pools and clots in the space below   ho w pa t hog e ns
      the dura mater, the outermost layer of three protective   transform  a  healthy
      membranes surrounding the brain.                  cell into a cancer cell
        “A recently published study predicts that by 2030,   uncovers exploitable
      chronic subdural bleeds will be the most common reason for   vulnerabilities and
      neurosurgical intervention,” said Jeffrey Miller, M.D., a neuro   allows us to make and
      endovascular surgeon at Cleveland Clinic Martin Health.  repurpose existing drugs
      A New Understanding                               that can effectively treat virus-associated malignancies.”     To understand the cells’ metabolic processes to
        Subdural hematomas occur in up to 25 percent of people     The Nature Communications study, led by Dr. Zhao,   uncover the virus’s vulnerabilities, Zhao collaborated with
      with head injuries, and individuals taking blood thinners are   reveals that KSHV manipulates two human enzymes   Michaela Gack, Ph.D., scientific director of the Florida
      at increased risk.                                called CDK6 and CAD to reshape the way human cells   Research & Innovation Center.
        Symptoms may include ongoing headache, confusion   produce new nucleotides – the building blocks of DNA     Rapidly replicating cancer cells reprogram metabolism
      and drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, slurred speech and   and RNA – and process glucose. The changes to how   to fuel growth. Meanwhile, most viruses cannot produce
      changes in vision. If the bleeding occurs slowly enough,   infected cells grow and how KSHV persists put cells at   energy or necessary molecules on their own, so they
      the symptoms may not appear for weeks or months. As a   a much higher risk of forming tumors and play a crucial   rely on human cells to do the work for them. The team
      result, an older person may not even recall how their head   role in causing cancer.                 found that the virus takes over the host protein CDK6
      injury happened.                                    The team showed the virus activates a specific pathway   and CAD, causing the infected cells to produce extra
        “If someone is                                  driving cell metabolism and proliferation. Inhibiting this   metabolites, which allows faster replication of the virus
      experiencing any of these                         process with existing FDA-approved breast cancer drugs   and an uncontrolled proliferation of the cells.
      symptoms, it is always                            reduced KSHV replication, blocked lymphoma progression     The research team treated preclinical models with a
      best to be evaluated by                           and shrunk existing tumors in preclinical models.   CDK6-blocking drug, Palbociclib, an FDA-approved
      a professional,” said Dr.                           Like other herpesviruses, KSHV often has no symptoms   breast cancer medication, as well as a compound targeting
      Miller. “If left untreated,                       initially and remains in the body after primary infection.   CAD. They saw significant decreases in tumor size and
      subdural hematomas can                            The virus stays dormant, suppressed by the immune   increases in cancer survival rates: Most tumors virtually
      quickly lead to permanent                         system. However, KSHV can reactivate when immunity   disappeared after about a month of treatment, and
      neurological injury or death.”                    is weakened – as in older people, those with HIV/AIDS,   remaining  tumors shrank around  80 percent.  Survival
        It  is  now believed,                           and transplant recipients. In these high-risk groups, the   increased to 100 percent for selected lymphoma cell lines.
      however, that chronic                             now active virus can trigger aggressive cancers.     Zhao and his team are working to better understand
      bleeding into the site of the                       KSHV-induced cancers are fast-acting, aggressive   the connections among KSHV, CDK6/CAD pathway, and
      hematoma may be instead                           and difficult to treat. An estimated 10 percent of people   cancer formation. With the knowledge they obtain, they
      caused by blood leaking                           in North America and Northern Europe have KSHV, but   plan to implement and refine their experimental drug
      from fragile arteries that  Jeffrey Miller, M.D.  this ranges throughout the globe. More than 50 percent   combinations for clinical trials.
      develop after the injury and                      of individuals in parts of Northern Africa are estimated     “Cellular metabolism could be hijacked by both
      initial blood clot formation. “These new blood vessels   to have the virus. Experts estimate these rates are higher,   viruses and cancers for pathogenesis,” said Zhao. “By
      feed the membrane that forms around the clotted blood,”   as KSHV often goes undiagnosed because of lack of   investigating these metabolic rewiring mechanisms, we
      says Miller.                                      symptoms. These findings have implications that reach   aim to find the Achilles’ heel of cancer-causing viruses
      Innovative Treatment                              past  KSHV;  researchers  can  apply  knowledge  about   and nonviral cancers. I’m excited to see what the future
        This new understanding has led to the development of   KSHV to other cancer-associated viruses that might use   of this work holds.”
      an innovative endovascular treatment for chronic subdural   the same process to cause cancer.
      hematomas called middle meningeal artery (MMA) embolization.
        The middle meningeal artery is a large blood vessel that
      supplies oxygen-rich blood to the dura mater surrounding the
      brain. A flexible tube called a catheter is used to inject a small   Are You Ready                                      Hurricane?
      amount of bioadhesive gel into branches of the artery that lead
      to the hematoma. This cuts off blood supply to the membrane
      surrounding the hematoma and prevents rebleeding.       For The Next Storm?
        The team at Cleveland Clinic Martin Health has successfully
      treated more than 100 patients with this minimally invasive
      approach. In addition to being an effective treatment, patients                                                     No Air Conditioning?
      enjoy a faster recovery and a lower risk of complications.                                                            No Refrigeration?
        To learn more about neurological services at Cleveland
      Clinic in Florida, visit ClevelandClinicFlorida.org/Neuro or                                            FREE
      call (877) 463-2010 to make an appointment.                                                                                  10% OFF
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