# Combination Therapy of Stem Cells and Drug Eluting Scaffolds to Treat Glioblastoma

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2020 · $69,306

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor and even with surgical resection, radiation, and
chemotherapy, recurrence and mortality is almost 100%. This is due in part to the cancer’s tentacle like
projections that make complete surgical removal difficult. Neural stem cells can be genetically engineered to
secrete tumoricidal agents. These tumoricidal neural stem cells (tNSC) have the ability to ‘home’ to distant
GBM deposits in the brain and have been shown to significantly reduce the growth of solid and invasive human
GBM xenografts. Unfortunately, as a monotherapy, tNSCs have faltered due to drug resistance and tumor
heterogeneity. Combination therapies have been shown to overcome these challenges. To avoid the blood-
brain barrier and therefore dose-limiting toxicities of systemically administered drugs, therapeutics
administered directly into the brain after GBM resection is ideal. This can be achieved by loading drug into a
biodegradable polymer allowing for controlled temporal release of drug locally as the polymer degrades. A
clinical example of this is Gliadel®, a biodegradable polymeric wafer that delivers carmustine into the resection
cavity. However, due to its poor drug release profile and the insufficient tumoricidal activity of carmustine,
Gliadel® has not resulted in significantly improved patient outcomes. Recent advancement in the genomic
landscape of cancer allows for more efficacious drugs to be utilized, leading to personalized chemotherapeutic
selection. Additionally, alternative polymers with more optimal drug release can be applied. The most
commonly used biodegradable polymers, such as polyesters, have slow and fixed degradation rates on the
order of months or years. This slow degradation results in drug release rates that are too slow to achieve or
maintain a therapeutic dose. Alternative biomaterials with improved degradation kinetics can be explored. For
facile placement in the brain, biopolymers can be electrospun with drug into a flexible and nanofibrous scaffold.
It is hypothesized that drug-loaded biopolymer scaffolds will have ideal drug release properties that when
delivered concomitantly with tNSC therapy will overcome resistance mechanisms and reduce the recurrence of
GBM.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9907853
- **Project number:** 5F32CA225199-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Grace Gurysh
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $69,306
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-01 → 2021-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9907853

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9907853, Combination Therapy of Stem Cells and Drug Eluting Scaffolds to Treat Glioblastoma (5F32CA225199-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9907853. Licensed CC0.

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