New tools to improve care for cancer that has spread to the brain

The tools will help doctors and patients make better-informed treatment decisions, enhance the care of brain metastases, and enable hospitals to improve the coordination and effectiveness of their interdisciplinary treatment programs.

Brain Cancer: UVA IDs Gene Responsible for Deadly Glioblastoma

The discovery of the oncogene responsible for glioblastoma could be the brain tumor’s Achilles’ heel, one researcher says.

New chemotherapy drug studied for malignant brain tumor in children

MTX110 is a new formulation of panobinostat, a chemotherapy drug that has shown promise in laboratory models of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children. Now, MTX110 is the focus of a novel trial that places the therapy directly into the fourth ventricle of the brain to treat patients with recurrent medulloblastoma.

Study: Despite failures, chemo still promising against dangerous childhood brain cancer, DIPG

Chemotherapy has been so unsuccessful against DIPG that researchers have questioned whether chemotherapy drugs are even able to reach the cancer. University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows, “… medicine does reach DIPG tissue in good quantities that have the potential to be effective against the tumor,” says lead researcher.

Henry Ford Health System Receives $25 Million Gift, Largest Single Donation in its History

Nationally-known developer Chris Jeffries and his wife Lisa have donated $25 million to Henry Ford Health System, the largest single gift from an individual in the health system’s 105-year history. This historic gift will rapidly accelerate the growth and expansion of Henry Ford’s Precision Medicine program, with the ultimate goal of creating a Precision Health Center. The efforts will have a robust focus on the advancement of cancer research and treatment, while also expanding to other medical specialties treating behavioral health, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Battling Brain Cancer on All Fronts

When you’re facing a cancer diagnosis with an average survival span of 12 to 18 months, every milestone is a victory. That makes each wedding invitation, graduation announcement and birthday photo that UCI neuro-oncologist Dr. Daniela Bota receives from her patients a cherished validation of her 12 years of groundbreaking research on glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.

University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center treats its first glioblastoma patient with genetically modified poliovirus

University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center treated its first patient in a new clinical trial to validate the groundbreaking effects of the poliovirus on glioblastoma (GBM), a deadly Grade IV cancer of the brain.

UH is the only Midwest site participating in this clinical trial, which was initiated at Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, NC. The original study, which ran from 2012-2017, was published in New England Journal of Medicine in July 2018 as well as highlighted on “60 Minutes” in 2015 and again in 2018. The study found that survival rates were significantly higher in glioblastoma patients who received an intratumoral infusion of a modified viral chimera combining the polio and rhinoviruses (PVSRIPO immunotherapy) compared to patients receiving standard treatment at the same institution.

$150K Pledge from Om Foundation to Support Pediatric Cancer Research at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

A $150,000 pledge from the Om Foundation will aid investigators at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in examining a certain type of medication that impacts gene activity in the treatment of a form of pediatric brain cancer.

First Molecular Test in US to Better Detect Brain Tumors Now Available to Patients

NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center have launched clinical whole genome DNA methylation profiling for patients with brain tumors.
This leading-edge molecular assay utilizes DNA epigenetic signatures and artificial intelligence with machine learning to correctly identify and subtype brain tumors. NYU Langone Health is the first Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified laboratory in the United States to receive state approval (New York State Department of Health) for whole genome DNA methylation for diagnosis and classification of brain tumors.

Tulane University student spends summer conducting brain tumor research in Switzerland

Tulane University senior James Rogers has been charting a course in the name of research since he arrived on campus in the fall of 2016. Rogers’ journey has led him from New Orleans to Bethesda, Md., across the Atlantic to Scotland and, most recently, Switzerland, where he spent the summer as a visiting research scholar in the Brain Tumor Center at the University Hospital Zürich (USZ).