New research from investigators led by Case CCC Molecular Oncology Program Co-Leader Justin Lathia, PhD, is challenging long-held assumptions about the role of androgens in cancer immunity and glioblastoma (GBM) progression.
In a study published in Nature, Lathia's team found that losing androgens such as testosterone accelerated glioblastoma growth in preclinical models by triggering stress hormone pathways and suppressing antitumor immunity in the brain.
The study also uncovered striking differences between how the brain and the rest of the body regulate immune responses to cancer—revealing a previously unknown neuroimmune mechanism that may help explain why glioblastoma behaves so aggressively.
Analysis of clinical data from more than 1,300 men with glioblastoma showed that supplemental testosterone was significantly associated with improved survival—a finding that could reshape how researchers think about sex hormones, brain tumor biology and future immunotherapy strategies for glioblastoma.