I worked with a number of people with NF in the 70's.....
Since all NF2 patients develop multiple schwannomas, the scientists have developed a human cell culture model for schwannoma, comprising of human schwannoma cells isolated from both patients and control normal healthy Schwann cells (which form the sheath that protects nerves). Using this model, the research team found for the first time that PrPC is over-produced in schwannoma compared with healthy Schwann cells. This overproduction is due to Merlin deficiency and strongly contributes to tumour growth and patient prognosis.
The research team have already identified a range of existing drugs which could manage this protein overproduction and that are used currently for other non-NF2-related conditions, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, multiple myeloma (a type of bone marrow cancer) and Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). By repurposing existing drugs, an effective therapy could be made available to NF2 patients, based on the failure of Merlin tumour suppressor expression, relatively quickly. The safety testing process for human use has already taken place for the original purpose of these drugs, which means they could be fast-tracked into clinical studies for NF2.