Franson receives $800K to test new treatment approach for pediatric brain tumors

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Andrea Franson, M.D., M.S., received an $800,000 “A” Award grant from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer to translate an approach developed at Rogel Cancer Center into a phase 1 clinical trial for children with high-grade glioma.

Franson, assistant professor of pediatrics, has worked with the Castro and Lowenstein Lab to clinically translate a therapeutic approach using two viral vectors, one encoding a cell-killing component and the other an immune stimulatory component, injected into the tumor bed. Successful testing in mice showed that injecting the viral vectors where the tumor was removed, in combination with the antiviral drug valacyclovir, killed the cancer cells and stimulated an anti-tumor immune response. The therapy has been tested in a phase 1 study in adults and was found to be safe. This study will be the first use of this viral therapy in children.

“New therapies are desperately needed for children and adolescents with relapsed, high-grade brain tumors. This approach to modifying the patient’s immune system may overcome current challenges to using immune-based therapies for these patients,” Franson said.

The funding supports a phase 1 clinical trial for pediatric patients with relapsed, high-grade brain tumors who require surgery. The trial seeks to learn if the viral vectors are safe and to track any side effects. It will also allow the team to monitor changes in the local and systemic immune response that result from the treatment.