Experts may have found a way of stopping the deadliest type of brain cancer in its tracks, according to new research.

Scientists at University College London say they have identified how to slow the growth of glioblastoma—an aggressive tumour that kills half of patients within a year —by blocking a key brain protein.

Tests on mice showed the tumours spread most rapidly in the brain's white matter, which is packed with nerve cell connections called axons. 

As the cancer grows, it shreds these connections, triggering a clean-up process known as Wallerian degeneration.

But rather than protecting the brain, this process fuels inflammation, creating the perfect conditions for the cancer to spread even faster.

The team believe targeting the protein responsible for clearing away damaged axons could prevent the tumour from hijacking this natural repair mechanism.

Mr Ciaran Hill, consultant neurosurgeon at University College London Hospital and study co-author, said: 'Our findings show that there is an early stage of this disease that we might be able to treat more effectively.

'By interfering with the brain's response to injury before the disease becomes intractable, we can potentially change how tumours behave, locking them in a more benign state.'

The researchers said the findings open up new areas of investigation and could pave the way for treatment strategies that intervene earlier in the disease.

Tanya Hollands, research information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: 'This research offers a fresh perspective on how glioblastomas grow and affect the brain.

'While this work is still in its early stages and has so far only been demonstrated in mice, it lays important groundwork for developing treatments that could not only extend life, but also improve patients' quality of life.'

In the study, published in Nature and funded by the Brain Tumour Charity and Cancer Research UK, scientists looked at mice genetically modified to develop glioblastomas similar to those seen in humans.

When they switched off a gene called SARM1—which controls the brain's response to injury—the mice developed less aggressive tumours, lived longer and kept normal brain function for most of their lives.

By contrast, mice whose brains responded to nerve damage as normal—breaking down and clearing away damaged cells—developed more aggressive tumours.

Drug treatments that block this process by targeting SARM1 are already being developed for early clinical trials in conditions such as motor neurone disease.

Professor Simona Parrinello, senior author of the study from University College London, said: 'Our study reveals a new way that we could potentially delay or even prevent glioblastomas from progressing to a more advanced state.

'This is especially important as current therapies do not work for glioblastoma, which is extremely difficult to treat, in part because it is typically diagnosed when it is already very advanced.

'Blocking the brain damage triggered by tumour growth could be beneficial in two ways — by slowing the progression of the cancer and by reducing disability.'

The team are now investigating whether drugs targeting SARM1, which are already being trialled for other brain diseases, could also be repurposed to tackle this aggressive form of cancer.

However, they cautioned that more laboratory work is needed before such treatments can be tested in glioblastoma patients.

Gigi Perry-Hildson, chair of The Oli Hilsdon Foundation, which raises funds for brain cancer research, said: 'We know all too well the devastating statistics that currently exist in relation to glioblastomas, alongside the urgent need for better treatments.'

She added that the charity is proud to have funded the study, which offers hope that a breakthrough treatment may finally be possible.

At present, treatment for the disease—which affects around 3,000 people in the UK and 12,000 in the US each year—still involves surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, much as it did two decades ago.

Diagnosed patients usually undergo surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible. 

This is followed by daily radiation and chemo drugs for around six weeks, after which the drugs are scaled back.

Radiation can be then used to destroy additional tumour cells and treat those who are not well enough for surgery. But the cancer can double in size in just seven weeks.

Average survival time for glioblastoma is between 12 and 18 months, according to the Brain Tumour Charity. Only five per cent of patients survive five years, it says.