Study finds improved survival for incurable brain tumor, providing ‘a crack in the armor’

For the first time, researchers have found a potential drug candidate that improved outcomes for patients with a type of childhood brain tumor for which there are no effective treatments. The compound, called ONC201, nearly doubled survival for patients with diffuse midline glioma (DMG) or diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), compared to previous patients.

Cancerous brain tumor cells may be at ‘critical point’ between order and disorder, study suggests

Glioblastoma cells are poised near a “critical point” of order and disorder — meaning, the cells possess some form of large-scale coordination throughout the whole tumor that allows them to respond in practical unison to attempts to kill tumor cells, such as chemotherapy or radiation, a study suggests. Researchers say disrupting the large-scale organization of brain tumors may result in more powerful ways to treat and one day eliminate brain tumors.

ASCO: Targeted therapy for early breast cancer, progress treating recurrent glioma, PSMA PET scan advances and more

Physicians and scientists from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center will discuss the latest research and clinical trial results on combination therapies for breast cancer, a potential new treatment for patients with recurrent glioma, and advances in PSMA PET guided radiotherapy for patients with prostate cancer, among other topics, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting.

Rethinking How Cancer Cells Evade Targeted Therapy

In a study publishing December 20 in Nature Cancer, UCSF researchers found that phenotype switching, as opposed to genetic evolution, may be the escape mechanism that explains the failure of precision therapies to date. They found that some cells shift to a mesenchymal, radiation-resistant phenotype (state) as a stress response following standard therapy. 

Unraveling the biology behind aggressive pediatric brain tumor reveals potential new treatment avenue

Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have identified a novel treatment approach to an aggressive type of pediatric brain cancer, using therapies already approved to treat cancer. The team developed a mouse model of pediatric glioma with a histone mutation called H3.3-G34, which allowed them to study the tumor’s biology in the presence of a functional immune system, revealing a promising outlook for long-term survival.

ASTRO issues clinical guideline on radiation therapy for IDH-mutant glioma

A new clinical guideline from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) provides recommendations on the use of radiation therapy to treat patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-mutant grade 2 and grade 3 diffuse glioma. Evidence-based recommendations outline the multidisciplinary planning and delivery techniques to manage this subset of central nervous system (CNS) tumors.

Sylvester Leads Study on New Treatment Option for Brain Tumor that Relapses or Fails to Respond to Standard of Care

Taken twice daily, oral olutasidenib helped to stabilize relapsed or refractory gliomas in heavily pretreated patients with less toxicity than standard of care treatment, according to a study led by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami School…

Dynamic cells linked to brain tumor growth and recurrence

Tumors are made up of many types of cells, both cancerous and benign. The specific complexity of the cells inside brain tumors has been a trademark of the disease, one that makes treatment extremely difficult. While scientists have long known about the variety of cells within a brain tumor, the ways these tumors grow has relied on the understanding that the cells are static, unmoving and relatively fixed.

A nanoparticle and inhibitor trigger the immune system, outsmarting brain cancer

Scientists at the University of Michigan fabricated a nanoparticle to deliver an inhibitor to brain tumor in mouse models, where the drug successfully turned on the immune system to eliminate the cancer. The process also triggered immune memory so that a reintroduced tumor was eliminated—a sign that this potential new approach could not only treat brain tumors but prevent or delay recurrences.

Study Sheds Light on Mechanism of Liposome Accumulation in Tumors

Dmitri Simberg, PhD, associate professor in the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy, released a new study of the effectiveness of different types of fluorescent labels used to monitor the accumulation of liposomes in tumors. The study was published on July 1, 2021, in ACS Nano.

New immunotherapy target discovered for malignant brain tumors

Scientists say they have discovered a potential new target for immunotherapy of malignant brain tumors, which so far have resisted the ground-breaking cancer treatment based on harnessing the body’s immune system. The discovery, reported in the journal CELL, emerged from laboratory experiments and has no immediate implications for treating patients.

Study Identifies Exposure to Common Food-Borne Pathogen Linked to Rare Brain Cancer

A new study suggests a link between toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection and the risk of glioma, a type of brain cancer, in adults. The report, appearing in the International Journal of Cancer, finds that people who have glioma are more likely to have antibodies to T. gondii (indicating that they have had a previous infection) than a similar group that was cancer free.