Drugs against alpha-ketoglutarate may combat deadly childhood brain tumor

(NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) Every year, 150 to 300 children in the United States are diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs), aggressive and lethal tumors that grow deep inside the brain, for which there are no cures. In a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers showed that experimental drugs designed to lower the body's natural production of alpha-ketoglutarate extended the lives of mice harboring DIPG tumors by slowing t...