Researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified the protein SET as a promising target for making glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, more responsive to standard radiation therapy. The study, published in Cancer Letters, focused on how glioblastoma cells disable an enzyme called PP2A that normally restrains cancer growth and repair.
Glioblastoma cells block PP2A activity through three proteins: ANP32A, CIP2A, and SET. In laboratory and animal models, suppressing each of these proteins reduced cancer cell survival and increased sensitivity to radiation. SET emerged as the most promising target because its suppression prevented tumors from forming altogether.
The research team, led by radiation oncology chair Arnab Chakravarti, MD, emphasizes that the goal is to enhance the effectiveness of current radiation and chemotherapy regimens, not to replace them. Restoring PP2A activity could make glioblastoma cells less able to survive treatment-induced damage.
The findings are preliminary and have not been tested in human patients. Researchers are now investigating whether SET or the related PP2A-blocking proteins can be targeted safely and whether doing so improves response to standard glioblastoma treatment.
The team also tested an FDA-approved antipsychotic drug known to increase PP2A activity. While the result supports further testing of drugs acting on this pathway, the drug is not ready for use in glioblastoma patients outside of a clinical trial.
Glioblastoma remains one of the deadliest cancers with limited treatment advances, largely because tumors adapt and resist radiation and chemotherapy. Understanding how SET and related proteins protect tumor cells provides a clear path for developing combination strategies.
The study was conducted by John Ryan Jacob and colleagues and published in Cancer Letters (2026) with DOI 10.1016/j.canlet.2026.218325. The work was supported by the Ohio State University Medical Center.
Study points to new target for treating aggressive brain cancer
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