Brain Tumor

Avapritinib, an FDA-approved drug used to treat other types of cancer, also decreases aggressive gliomas in animal models and in an initial cohort of patients with high-grade glioma

The standard treatment for most cancers is chemotherapy and surgery. However, for tumors in the brain and spinal cord treatments can be challenging, because they are often difficult to access due to their location and can be very aggressive. Unfortunately, there are limited therapy options for patients with inoperable tumors. The development of chimeric antigen receptor T cells is a promising new type of cancer therapy. CAR T treatment helps the patient’s own body and immune system to target the tumor.

Researchers say the technology could one day be applied to other cancers

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, or DIPG, is the most aggressive pediatric brain tumor and incredibly difficult to treat since surgery isn’t feasible and recurrence is likely after radiation. This research may provide some insight.

A study from the University of Michigan Department of Neurosurgery and Rogel Cancer Center shows promising early results that a therapy combining cell-killing and immune-stimulating drugs are safe and effective in extending survival for patients with gliomas, a highly aggressive form of brain cancer.

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 or diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, compared to previous patients.

An inter-departmental group of researchers at the Rogel Cancer Center received a grant from the National Cancer Institute to further research on radiosensitization, the process of making tumors more vulnerable to radiation treatment.