NPR

Deadly Brain Cancers Act Like 'Vampires' By Hijacking Normal Cells To Grow

Researchers say certain brain cancers tap electrical signals from healthy cells to fuel their growth. The finding could lead to treatments for deadly tumors like the one that killed Sen. John McCain.
A colored computerized tomography (CT) scan of an axial section of the brain of a 59-year-old patient with a malignant (cancerous) glioblastoma brain tumor.

Researchers are beginning to understand why certain brain cancers are so hard to stop.

Three studies published Wednesday in the journal Nature found that these deadly tumors integrate themselves into the brain's electrical network and then hijack signals from healthy nerve cells to fuel their own growth.

"They are like vampires" feeding on brain activity, says , a neurologist at Heidelberg University in Germany of the studies.

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