Existing cancer drug reduces blood vessel malformations in the brain

A Uppsala University team found that the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib reduces the number and size of brain vascular lesions, stabilizes abnormal vessels, and suppresses lesion progression in mouse models of cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM). Candidates were first screened from more than 5,000 bioactive molecules, then validated in cultured human brain vascular cells and CCM animal models. Dabrafenib also suppressed lesion leakage and corrected structural defects in the retinal vasculature.