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Weekly Brain Tumor News

March 15, 2019 by Hayley Anthony

In this week’s brain tumor news roundup: a changing landscape for pediatric ependymoma treatment, a new technique that might make the so-called Blood-Brain Barrier less of a factor for tumor treatment, Meghan McCain dishes with Ricki Lake on medical marijuana for GBM patients, and a heartwarming story from Wisconsin featuring puppies!

Pup-loving 7-year-old DIPG patient gets a surprise visit from 40 police dogs

Emma Mertens, a young girl in Wisconsin with an inoperable DIPG, became internet famous when she asked people to send her pictures of their dogs to keep her spirits up. The local police department decided to take it to the next level for Mertens. Not only did they show up with a couple dogs from their own force—they contacted every K-9 unit in the state of Wisconsin and asked them to pay the young dog-lover a visit. All told, she got to meet more than 40 dogs to make her feel special.

Radiation triples survival for children with Ependymoma

Historically, children under age three were not treated with radiation, as it was not believed to be safe. As a result, children under that age had a worse prognosis than older children, and ependymoma was one of the most deadly diagnoses for a child to receive. A new phase 2 clinical study from St. Jude (the phase that tests whether a treatment works) enrolled over 350 children under age 3 at more than 100 sites. Researchers found that giving radiation immediately after surgery, even for children at that young age, helped achieve seven-year progression-free survival for more than 75 percent of patients. As techniques for radiation oncology advance at the best centers and research like this comes in, the standard of care is begining to shift to include radiation for even the youngest patients, and effective radiation treatment can offer hope to children and families affected by this still deadly diagnosis

Ultrasound beams and the blood-brain barrier

One of the great challenges in treating primary brain tumors is the difficulty of getting drugs past the blood-brain barrier. The BBB is a mechanism of the body to protect brain tissue from harm, but when someone needs to be treated for a brain tumor, it gets in the way of what doctors need to do. Now a neuro-radiologist at Stanford School of Medicine has developed a technique that can use ultrasound beams to help compounds cross the BBB at targeted spots. As this technique advances, it could become a tool to more safely study healthy and cancerous brain tissue, prepare patients for surgery, and deliver medicine.

Meghan McCain says medical marijuana might have helped her dad

Meghan McCain, daughter of late senator John McCain, spoke to former TV host Ricki Lake last week about medical marijuana and her father’s illness. She discussed a study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience that found patients who were given a combination of THC and CBD, the main active compounds from marijuana in addition to chemo and radiation lived longer than those given chemo and radiation alone. Ms. McCain said she was frustrated by the continuing stigmas around marijuana.

circular chart illustrating chemical pathways involved in brain tumor growth, and how cannabinoids might block such pathways — Source: Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience

More researchers finding ways to kill GBM stem cells

Last week we shared a story about a research team working on ways to shut down GBM stem cells as part of tumor treatment. This week we see another team showing promise along the same lines. This one comes from the nonprofit Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. The team there has developed an early version of a compound they are calling RIPGBM. So far they’ve tested in mouse studies and have seen it kill GBM cells 40 times more effectively than temozolamide. They published results in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences. The researchers plan to continue developing this technique in animal models and hope to ultimately conduct clinical trials.

Friday News Roundup – Week 10, 2019

March 8, 2019 by Hayley Anthony

Close up of x ray images of human brain being put on the whiteboard by an oncologist. Source: Adobe Stock

In the news this week: signs that gender may affect GBM prognosis more than originally thought, plus two exciting developments in treating childhood brain tumors – one medical, one surgical. Also, a review of possible warning signs of a brain tumor and the need for a neurological exam. Lastly, a new compound from Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers with promising implications for GBM chemotherapy.

Gender and GBM

GBM is normally classified as a cancer where sex has a minor effect on survival rates. Yet it may play a larger role than previously assumed. A group of scientists at Washington University School of Medicine just published a study that found that the standard treatment of surgery and TMZ may be more effective in women than men. Another research group in Italy showed similar findings.

Promising Treatment for Childhood Brain Tumors

DIPG is the most deadly form of brain tumor in children. And a new study just published in Nature Communications found that they could slow DIPG growth by blocking an enzyme called ACVR1, involved in spooling DNA for cell division. The study used animal models. The scientists involved say they are exploring different ACVR1 inhibitors now, so they can safely bring an agent into clinical trials for children.

Shutting down GBM stem cells

Most widely used treatments for GBM target rapidly dividing cell lines – as rapid division is one of the hallmarks of a cancerous tumor. Yet these treatments may not kill the cancer’s stem cells, which can allow it to grow back over the long term. Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have identified a promising agent which does just that: attacks rapidly dividing GBM, attacks GBM stem cells, and leaves healthy cells intact.

Yet the treatment isn’t ready for clinical trials just yet. The researchers must now determine whether it can cross the blood-brain-barrier and if not, find a way for it to do so. And they must explore side effects to ensure it’s safety.

Early signs of a possible brain tumor

Here are 8 symptoms that don’t necessarily indicate a brain tumor, but do suggest that a visit to a neurologist, and possibly an MRI, may be warranted. They include cognitive changes, numbness, vision changes, behavior and mood changes, sudden clumsiness, and more.

“Tumor Paint” makes for safer, more effective brain cancer surgeries

A biotech firm in Seattle has developed a compound that causes brain tumor and scar tissue to glow under a special light used during surgery, while leaving healthy tissue to appear normal. This means that surgeons can more effectively identify tissue that needs to be removed while staying clear of healthy brain. The compound has now been used in 30 pediatric brain tumor surgeries at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the trial will soon expand to 114 candidates across the US.

News Roundup – Mar 1, 2019

March 1, 2019 by Hayley Anthony

In the news this week: some promising pre-clinical treatments, hope for Medicare patients who want to try Optune, a recommendation research strategies, and a doctor’s story about how one brain tumor patient changed his how he saw patients.

Medicare CMS to hold hearings about paying for Optune on March 6

The federal agency that administers Medicare in the United States, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will consider whether they will pay for their patients to receive Optune treatment in the future. Optune is a medical device worn on the head that the FDA has approved as part of treatment plans for newly diagnosed and recurrent GBMs.

Supporters who think Medicare should cover Optune treatment can visit CMS’s Facebook livestream on March 6 and leave a comment.

Doctor shares his story of how an astrocytoma patient changed how he practices medicine

Writing in the Washington Post, oncologist Jalal Baig shares how he entered medicine with the common belief that doctors should keep themselves at an emotional distance from their patients. His view evolved as he treated an astrocytoma (and later GBM) patient he called “Mr. C.”

Of learning to cry over a patient, he writes in the Post, “Instead of diminishing me as a physician, I am left with a more nuanced perspective on life, a greater appreciation for medicine’s fallibilities and boundaries, and a renewed commitment to my patients.”

International panel names seven factors standing in the way of curing brain cancer

An international panel of clincians and laboratory scientists convened by Cancer Research UK published a joint statement in Nature about the factors that make brain tumors so difficult to treat, with seven key factors that need more research and funding to achieve a cure. These include topics from changing how trials are designed, to better leveraging neuroscience research on healthy brains, to gaining a better understanding of the so-called “tumor microenvironment,” or how tumors steal body resources to feed and support themselves.

Researchers discover a way to improve effectiveness of radiation

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have found that by blocking the activity of a particular protein found in glioblastomas, a tumor will respond better to radiation therapy. The tumor, known as PTEN, often acts in GBMs to repair tumor DNA that has been damaged by radiation, reversing the effectiveness of this treatment. In a recent study mouse, the scientists found that if they deactivated PTEN, then radiation killed more tumor cells and the mice survived longer. “

“These findings are novel and provide a foundation to move forward with a clinical trial,” one of the researchers was quoted as saying to the UCSD News Center.

5 People Fighting Brain Tumors in the Public Eye

March 22, 2019 by Hayley Anthony

People in this community can probably name a few big names from the world of politics who fought brain tumors. But this week, we feature 5 people who are fighting brain tumors in public in their own ways. This includes a young woman with 1.5 million youtube followers, an E! Entertainment journalist, a NASCAR rookie, and a schoolteacher with a loyal audience of preschoolers.

Simone Giertz started with a punchline on YouTube. Now, she’s figuring out what to build next.

Robot builder Simone Giertz found out earlier this year that she’ll be undergoing 8 weeks of radiation following the removal of a brain tumor, but that hasn’t stopped her meteoric rise in popularity on YouTube. What’s next for Giertz might even include the first television show in space!

New mom finds her way back from brain tumor surgery with a little help from her millennial moms of color community

This is a heartwarming story about young D.C. public school teacher, Kassandra Johnson, who had just given birth to her second child when she started showing signs of a brain tumor. She was afraid she’d become a statistic. Instead, her community, organized around a group for millennial moms of color called District Motherhued, rallied to help. Moms who didn’t even know her donated baby supplies and supported her GoFundMe. Thanks to the support of her community and the success of her surgery, she hopes to return to her students this spring.

Entrepreneur builds on her experience recovering from tumor to launch VR-assisted medical device company

Rebecca Mandel was diagnosed with a brain tumor in her right frontal lobe when she was just 15 years old. Through the years that followed, she managed to graduate from high school and then college, even as she found it difficult to organize and communicate her thoughts. Her senior thesis required six months of writing eight hours each day. Rebecca found that meditation and, surprisingly, Virtual Reality headsets both helped her re-train her brain, and has since founded a company called Lucid Care to help other patients with cognitive impairment.

NASCAR rookie Matt Tifft overcame brain tumor to fulfill his dream

Matt Tiff is a NASCAR rookie that, just three years ago, began experiencing symptoms such as acute pain from artificial light, feelings of claustrophobia, and even heading strange voices in his head. This season he debuts as part of the Front Row Motorsports team driving car No. 36.

Maria Menounos making documentary about life post-brain tumor

Just one year after Emmy-winning journalist Maria Menounos found out that her mother had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, she was diagnosed with her own meningioma brain tumor. At this year’s SXSW she announced that she had begun work on a documentary about her journey through brain tumor treatment in her continuing efforts to dispel misconceptions and inspire others.

Brain Tumor Science Roundup

March 22, 2019 by Hayley Anthony

This week, we see a number of stories that explore advances in observing and understanding tumors, including a new technique that uses artificial intelligence to spot potential brain tumor metastasis.

AI Predicts Which Cancer Cells Will Attack the Brain

Sofia Merajver, M.D., Ph.D., and a team of colleagues have developed a new platform to study cancer cells’ ability to cross the blood-brain barrier.

A team of researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center is employing AI analytics techniques to better identify potential metastatic tumor cells attacking the brain. They developed a technique that uses live imaging, artificial intelligence, and a tiny device that mimics the “micro-environment” between the brain and the bloodstream. Researcher Sofia Merajver described the developmetn of the AI to Michican Health’s blog, “We had to train the machine learning programs how to analyze all those thousands and thousands of cells — in multiple aspects like their shape, their velocity, their connectivity to other cells.”

First-Of-Its-Kind Treatment Beats Back Notorious Brain Tumor

Kristina Johnson is a recent college graduate who was diagnosed with a particularly difficult-to-treat brain tumor, known as a diffuse midline glioma. This kind of tumor develops deep in the brain near to nerve centers, and few patients respond well to drugs. Yet when Johnson’s tumor responded well to a clinical trial drug called ONC201, researchers took a closer look at her tumor’s DNA. It had a mutation called H3K27M. So researchers are now exploring whether this drug with this mutation offers a favorable treatment option – a great demonstration of the potential of personalized medicine.

Mapping the Unknown: How Mass Spec is Taking Us Deep Inside Tumors

Better drugs and new treatment options for brain tumor science are some of the promises in the advancement of new mass spectrometry techniques, which allow scientists to understand tumors at a molecular level. Professor Josephine Bunch says the project is something like creating the “Google Earth” of tumors due to how much context and detail researchers are able to discern about tumors.

SNUH develops 3D printing tech to treat intractable brain cancer

http://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=5381

3D cell printing technology could hold a key to treatment of patients with glioblastoma. Scientists at Seoul National University have seen promising results in early trials of a small chip that, when implanted, targets and kills cancer cells.

Saskatchewan researcher discovers ‘novel way’ to target cancer cells

Neuroscientists at the University of Saskatchewan have developed a new method of disrupting the connection of two protein molecules that increase cancer cell activity. Originally the research began as a method of treating breast cancer, but the team is now working on targeting prostate and glioblastoma cancer cells.