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Study of effectiveness of mifepristone for glioma cell line growth suppression
Raghu Ramaswamy1, Katherine Ashton, Robert Lea
1Department of Neurosurgery, Royal Preston Hospital, Preston, UK. ramaswamy_mr@yahoo.co.uk
Objective:
Glioblastoma multiforme is a malignant primary brain tumour with very limited treatment options. Any addition to existing treatment options which can improve prognosis and life expectancy is useful. In our study, we look at the usefulness of anti-progestogen mifepristone in causing growth suppression of glioma cell lines in the laboratory.
Methods:
We cultured five cell lines in the lab and exposed them to mifepristone in different doses for a total of 96 h. Five different doses of mifepristone were used. Progesterone and dexamethasone were also used as growth stimulants. Immunostaining was used to identify progesterone receptors (PRs) in the cell lines.
Results:
U257/7 and IN1265 showed statistically significant growth suppression (36% and 11%, P = 0.001 and 0.03 respectively), maximal at 96 h. Growth suppression in U257/7 showed a dose response progression except with the lowest dose which was not explicable. The response of IN1265 was seen only with the highest dose of mifepristone. There was no significant growth stimulation with either dexamethasone or progesterone. None of the cell lines showed any significant positivity for PRs.
Conclusion:
We were able to produce enough growth suppression of glioma cell lines using mifepristone. This is in keeping with some of the published results in literature. This raises the possibility of using mifepristone in treating GBMs which have very limited treatment options. This, however, needs further work probably on primary glioma cultures first followed by in vivo studies before it can be used in patients.
Insights
Anti-progestogen mifepristone demonstrated significant glioma cell growth suppression in laboratory studies. This finding suggests potential for mifepristone as a novel glioblastoma treatment, warranting further investigation.
Area of Science:
- Neuro-oncology
- Pharmacology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive brain tumor with limited therapeutic options.
- Novel treatment strategies are crucial for improving patient prognosis and survival.
- Mifepristone, an anti-progestogen, is explored for its potential anti-cancer effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of mifepristone in suppressing glioma cell line growth in vitro.
- To investigate the dose-dependent response of glioma cells to mifepristone treatment.
Main Methods:
- Five human glioma cell lines were cultured and treated with varying doses of mifepristone for 96 hours.
- Immunostaining was employed to detect progesterone receptors (PRs) within the cell lines.
- Progesterone and dexamethasone were used as control growth stimulants.
Main Results:
- Mifepristone induced statistically significant growth suppression in U257/7 (36%) and IN1265 (11%) cell lines.
- Maximal growth suppression was observed at 96 hours post-treatment.
- No significant growth stimulation was observed with progesterone or dexamethasone; PRs were not detected in the cell lines.
Conclusions:
- Mifepristone effectively suppressed glioma cell line growth, aligning with existing literature.
- This suggests a potential therapeutic role for mifepristone in treating glioblastoma.
- Further research, including in vivo studies, is necessary before clinical application in patients.
