PI3K inhibitors may block cancer's access to CNS

Researchers from Duke University, Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) and colleagues suggested that acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells metastasize to the CNS by traveling along vessels rich in laminin, a protein associated with motility of neuronal progenitor cells. The findings also suggest that inhibiting phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) delta could block CNS metastasis.

ALL frequently metastasizes to the subarachnoid space of the CNS, although the mechanism of invasion is unknown. In a Nature paper, the researchers found ALL cells injected intravenously in mice were unable to breach the blood brain barrier...