DeCure's autonomous Cancer AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for Spinal Cord Astrocytoma — screening already-approved drugs against its 34-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleSpinal Cord Astrocytoma maps to a 34-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for spinal cord astrocytoma is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
NRAS proto-oncogene, GTPase (NRAS) — NRAS is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet gdpdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 6ZIO · 1.55 Å · ligand GUANOSINE-5'-DIPHOSPHATE (GDP). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
A 1982 series of 19 paediatric spinal cord astrocytomas treated surgically over two years, with six to 24 months of follow-up, concluded that gross total removal of the tumour was the optimal therapeutic option. A 2000 case report described one patient whose conus medullaris astrocytoma responded to PCV chemotherapy (procarbazine, lomustine, vincristine) after the tumour had progressed following radiation and cisplatin-based chemotherapy. That report recommended PCV be considered for progressive spinal cord astrocytomas, but provided no data on how often such responses occur.
A 2020 case study of a single paediatric spinal cord pilocytic astrocytoma performed exome, array CGH and RNA sequencing on a very small formalin-fixed specimen. The tumour showed no common pilocytic astrocytoma gene variations, including no BRAFV600E mutation and no BRAF-KIAA1549 fusion. It carried few tumour-specific single nucleotide variants in DEFB119, MUC5B, NUDT1, LTBP3 and CPSF3L, a 44.9% inframe trinucleotide insertion involving DLX6 or lnc DLX6-AS1, and a 1.01 Mb microdeletion at 6q25.3 comprising ZDHHC14, SNX9, TULP4 and SYTL3. Urine-derived exosomes showed no significant variation in DLX-AS1 or the deleted genes over one year. The authors described this as a gene-orphan case.
Another 2020 study reported five cases of IDH1 mutations in spinal cord astrocytomas, noting that two of the mutations had never been described in CNS gliomas. The authors stated that spinal cord gliomas account for only 4.3% of primary and glial CNS tumours, which slows the development of effective treatments compared to brain tumours. A 2001 rat contusion study found that Id1, Id2 and Id3 mRNA were upregulated in astrocytes, oligodendrocytes and neural progenitors after spinal cord injury, with maximal levels at three days, but this work was in injured spinal cord, not tumour tissue.
What is still missing are prospective trials large enough to test whether any chemotherapy regimen, including PCV, improves survival in spinal cord astrocytoma, and whether the rare IDH1 mutations or the gene-orphan molecular profile have any prognostic or therapeutic relevance. Funding for multi-centre collaboration, standardised molecular profiling of tumour tissue, and trials that stratify patients by histology and molecular subtype are all lacking.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Journal of neurosurgery · 1982 · 197 citations
Surgical treatment of spinal cord astrocytomas of childhood
Abstract✓ This report describes the first author's surgical experience with a series of 19 consecutive cases of spinal cord astrocytoma treated over the past 2 years, with a follow-up period of 6 to 24 months. The clinical presentation, neurodiagnostic investigation, surgical technique, and results are analyzed. The authors conclude that radical resection (gross total removal of the tumor) is the optimal therapeutic option.
Spinal cord astrocytoma: Response to PCV chemotherapy
AbstractInformation regarding the value of chemotherapy for spinal cord astrocytomas that progress after irradiation is limited. We describe a patient whose conus medullaris astrocytoma responded to PCV (procarbazine, lomustine, and vincristine) chemotherapy after failing radiation and cisplatin-based chemotherapy. PCV should be considered in patients with progressive spinal cord astrocytomas.
Cancer Genomics & Proteomics · 2020 · 8 citations · open access
The Search for Molecular Markers in a Gene-Orphan Case Study of a Pediatric Spinal Cord Pilocytic Astrocytoma
AbstractBACKGROUND/AIM: We herein presented a case of pediatric spinal cord pilocytic astrocytoma diagnosed on the basis of histopathological and clinical findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Given the paucity of data on genetic features for this tumor, we performed exome, array CGH and RNA sequencing analysis from nucleic acids isolated from a unique and not repeatable very small amount of a formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) specimen. RESULTS: DNA mutation analysis, comparing tumor and normal lymphocyte peripheral DNA, evidenced few tumor-specific single nucleotide variants in DEFB119, MUC5B, NUDT1, LTBP3 and CPSF3L genes. Differently, tumor DNA was not characterized by for the main pilocytic astrocytoma gene variations, including BRAFV600E. An inframe trinucleotides insertion involving DLX6 or lnc DLX6-AS1 genes was scored in 44.9% of sequenced reads; the temporal profile of this variation on the expression of DLX-AS1 was investigated in patient's urine-derived exosomes, reporting no significant variation in the one-year molecular follow-up. Array CGH identified a tumor microdeletion at the 6q25.3 chromosomal region, spanning 1,01 Mb and comprising ZDHHC14, SNX9, TULP4 and SYTL3 genes. The expression of these genes did not change in urine-derived exosomes during the one-year investigation period. Finally, RNAseq did not reveal any of the common pilocytic BRAF-KIAA1549 genes fusion events. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, the present report is one of the first described gene-orphan case studies of a pediatric spinal cord pilocytic astrocytoma.
Rare Cases of IDH1 Mutations in Spinal Cord Astrocytomas
AbstractA low occurrence rate of spinal cord gliomas (4.3% of primary and glial CNS tumors) and the associated difficulties in building statistically significant cohorts of patients considerably slow down the development of effective approaches to the treatment of spinal cord tumors compared to brain tumors. Despite our extensiveknowledge regardingIDHmutations in intracranial tumors, mutations of this gene in spinal cord astrocytomas remain poorly understood. In thisstudy, we report on five cases of identified mutations in theIDH1gene in spinal cord astrocytoma cells, two of which are unique, as they have never been previously described in CNS gliomas.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
