Abstract 7229: In situ trans-differentiation therapy effectively terminates the growth and recurrence of glioblastoma

Abstract Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and malignant brain tumor in adults, and remains almost invariably lethal due to its aggressive and invasive nature. The standard first-line treatment for GBM is surgical resection, postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy with temozolomide (TMZ), but it exhibits short-term effects due to a high recurrence rate of GBM is its (up to almost one hundred percent). This long-existing clinical challenge has demanded development of novel and effective therapeutic strategies. In situ cell trans-differentiation therapy which direct reprograms tumor cells into terminally differentiated benign cells represents a novel therapeutic strategy for tumors. We further explored the application of in situ trans-differentiation therapy for glioblastoma. Results: In the present study, we have conducted a large-scale screen for transcription factors which can reprogram glioblastoma cells into terminally differentiated postmitotic cells. Over-expression of a combo of selected trans-differentiation factors that possess the highest trans-differentiation rate effectively reprogramed human glioma cells into neuronal-like cells with characteristic neuronal morphology and expression of neuronal genes in culture, as a result substantially reducing glioblastoma cell proliferation and tumor development after orthotopic transplantation. With replicable recombinant oncolytic virus vectors, product candidate can specifically replicate in glioma cells, therefore transcription factors can be specifically delivered to all tumor cells rather than normal cells. In either cell line-derived or patient-derived tumor tissue xenograft models, intra-tumoral injection product candidate inhibited glioblastoma cells growth at an exceptionally high efficiency. Remarkably product candidate combination with TMZ resulted in a complete regression of tumor and no recurrence was observed in animal model cases. Conclusion: In summary, our findings have established a novel therapeutic approach for treating glioblastoma by terminating sustained proliferation of glioma cells via transcription factors-induced in situ cell trans-differentiation and supported further clinic investigations in patients. Citation Format: Huihui Zhao, Zhaozhong Li, Xiaohui Zhang, Congjian Zhao, Zhao Zhu, Yueguang Liu. In situ trans-differentiation therapy effectively terminates the growth and recurrence of glioblastoma abstract. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts) ; 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84 (6Suppl): Abstract nr 7229.