CoSyne Therapeutics

CoSyne Therapeutics is committed to advancing new treatment options for glioblastoma patients.

Read more about our work on our website: www.cosyne.com

#CoSyneTherapeutics #Glioblastoma #BrainCancerResearch #DrugDiscovery #BioTech

🧠 Our own Computational Biologist Grant is fundraising for Brain Tumour Research by taking on the brutal Steall Mountain Marathon in September! 🏃‍♂️⛰️

Wish Grant luck & donate to this fantastic cause via the link below!

www.justgiving.com/page/grant-n...

For diseases like GBM, where treatment options remain limited, every insight counts. [14/14]

#Glioblastoma #BrainCancerResearch #DrugDiscovery #BioTech

⚕️ Why does it matter?
Understanding the consequences of each mutation helps us develop better ways to detect and treat cancer. It's the first step towards personalised medicine, where treatments are tailored to the unique genetic profile of a patient’s tumour. [13/14]

Some of the most common genetic mutations in GBM include:
🧬 TP53 mutations, which impair the cell’s ability to prevent damaged cells from dividing
🧬 EGFR amplifications, which lead to constant growth signals
🧬 IDH1 mutations, sometimes seen in GBM [12/14]

🧠 What about brain cancer?
One of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer is Glioblastoma (GBM). Like many cancers, GBM is driven by specific genetic mutations. [11/14]

While most mutations don’t cause problems (some are even helpful), some can disrupt key genes and increase the risk of cancer. [10/14]

↔️ Structural changes - larger-scale alterations, like swapping sections between different DNA molecules (translocation) or duplications/deletions of large DNA segments (copy number variations). [9/14]

⚠️ Types of mutations
Mutations come in different shapes and sizes:
🔡 Point mutations - a single “letter” in the DNA sequence is changed.
↕️ Insertions/Deletions (indels) - small chunks of the DNA sequence are added or removed. [8/14]

But no system is foolproof. When mistakes slip through the cracks—especially in genes that control how cells grow and divide—cells can start multiplying uncontrollably. That’s how cancer begins. [7/14]

DNA polymerases possess proofreading activity, allowing them to detect and replace incorrect nucleotides before adding the next, which can correct most errors. [6/14]

📝 How do cells protect against mutations?
Luckily, our cells have evolved remarkably effective and sophisticated systems to catch and fix these “typos” to maintain the integrity of the genetic code during each cell division. [5/14]

correctly into the newly synthesised molecule. But these machineries are not perfect, estimated to make a mistake every 100,000 – 1,000,000 “letters” copied. For the human genome, this alone could result in at least 60,000 errors every time a cell divides. [4/14]

☣️ How do mutations arise?
Mutations can be inherited from our parents, or they can happen over time when our cells divide—like a copying error in a long manuscript. DNA replication relies on enzymes called polymerases to incorporate each DNA “letter” (or nucleotides) [3/14]

But like any manual, DNA isn’t immune to typos. Any changes to the DNA sequence - called mutations - can sometimes interfere with how cells behave. In some cases, they can lead to diseases, including cancer. [2/14]

📝 Blog post of the week!
🧬 What is the link between your genes and cancer?

Your DNA is like the ultimate instruction manual. It encodes the genetic information required to instruct each of your cells how to grow, function and survive. [1/14]

CoSyne Therapeutics is committed to advancing new treatment options for glioblastoma patients.

Read more about our work on our website: www.cosyne.com

#CoSyneTherapeutics #Glioblastoma #BrainCancerResearch #DrugDiscovery #BioTech

Each new publication showcasing dedicated and high-quality research brings us closer to understanding the full complexity of glioblastoma

Sources:
Cancer Research UK – Glioblastoma Statistics: www.cancerresearchuk.org
American Brain Tumor Association – GBM Facts: www.abta.org
NHS – Glioblastoma Overview: www.nhs.uk/conditions/b...
Brain Tumour Research – Funding Gap: www.braintumourresearch.org [11/11]

💡 While there are no quick solutions, this work lays an important foundation for uncovering new insights into GBM biology—insights that may one day inform more effective treatment strategies. [10/11]

🧬 However, companies like CoSyne Therapeutics are working to move the dial on this devastating disease. At CoSyne, we have built one of the largest biobanks of patient-derived GBM samples, and have extensively characterised these using a range of advanced omics techniques. [9/11]

👪 GBM affects all genders and ages alike. In most cases, a GBM diagnosis comes completely out of the blue, and for many, the disease strikes in the prime of life. [8/11]

👪 Unlike many other cancers, GBM isn’t linked to lifestyle, environment, or inherited risk. There are no known behaviours like smoking, poor diet, or alcohol use that increase the chance of developing GBM, nor is it typically associated with other medical conditions. [7/11]

⚠️ What’s most alarming is that no new drugs have been approved for GBM since bevacizumab was introduced in 2009. Brain tumours receive just 1% of the national cancer research funding in the UK, despite accounting for more years of life lost than any other cancer type. [6/11]

The only FDA-approved drug specifically for recurrent GBM is bevacizumab (Avastin; a drug that targets the tumour’s blood supply) but its benefits are modest, and it does not extend overall survival. [5/11]

💊 Current treatment typically involves surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy with a drug called temozolomide. Unfortunately, GBM almost always recurs, and when it does, treatment options are limited and ineffective. [4/11]

Only about 5% of patients survive more than five years, and these figures have barely changed in the past two decades. For patients and their families, it means facing a brutal disease with limited time and even fewer choices. [3/11]

⌛ Despite advances in science and medicine, GBM remains a devastating diagnosis—one that offers patients little hope, and few effective treatment options. The average survival time after a GBM diagnosis is just 12 to 18 months. [2/11]

📝 Unmet patient need: a glioblastoma story
🧠 Every year, around 3,200 people in the UK are diagnosed with glioblastoma (GBM), the most aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer. In the United States, that number is closer to 13,000 new cases annually. [1/11]

Remarkable advances in unraveling the brain's biology!