Brain Cancer News and Research

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There are two main types of brain cancer. Primary brain cancer starts in the brain. Metastatic brain cancer starts somewhere else in the body and moves to the brain. Brain tumors can be benign, with no cancer cells, or malignant, with cancer cells that grow quickly. Also called glioma, meningioma.

Discovery may lead to new ways to diagnose, treat brain cancer

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute have uncovered a link between the genomes of cells originating in the neural crest and development of tumors — a discovery that could lead to new ways to diagnose and treat cancer.

6 Aug 2015

CRI commits $29.3 million in new funds to accelerate development of cancer immunotherapies

The Cancer Research Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fueling the discovery and development of immunotherapies for all forms of cancer, announced that it has committed more than $29.3 million in new funds to accelerate cancer immunology research and cancer immunotherapy clinical development in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Sweden, Switzerland, and The Netherlands.

5 Aug 2015

MD Anderson scientists reveal role of metabolic enzyme fumarase in DNA repair

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the worst possible form of genetic malfunction that can cause cancer and resistance to therapy. New information published this week reveals more about why this occurs and how these breaks can be repaired.

4 Aug 2015

Two chemical compounds effectively inhibit growth of brain cancer cells and breast tumors

Researchers have discovered two chemical compounds that effectively stop the growth of brain cancer cells and breast tumors, opening the way for potential new drugs to be developed.

16 Jul 2015

Canadian researchers launch world's first viral therapy clinical trial to attack and kill cancer cells

Canadian researchers have launched the world's first clinical trial of a novel investigational therapy that uses a combination of two viruses to attack and kill cancer cells, and stimulate an anti-cancer immune response. Previous research by this team and others worldwide suggests that this approach could be very powerful, and could have fewer side effects than conventional chemotherapy and radiation, although it will take years to rigorously test through this trial and others.

13 Jul 2015

Ludwig, CRI launch clinical trials to evaluate immunotherapies for treatment of GBM and solid tumors

Ludwig Cancer Research and the Cancer Research Institute have launched clinical trials evaluating an immunotherapy for the treatment of the brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), and a combination of immunotherapies for a variety of solid tumors.

8 Jul 2015

City of Hope researchers to use patients' own modified T cells to treat advanced brain tumors

Already pioneers in the use of immunotherapy, City of Hope researchers are now testing the bold approach to cancer treatment against one of medicine's biggest challenges: brain cancer. This month, they will launch a clinical trial using patients' own modified T cells to fight advanced brain tumors.

7 Jul 2015

LSD1 enzyme turns off genes needed to maintain cancer stem cell properties in glioblastoma

Cancer's ability to grow unchecked is often attributed to cancer stem cells, a small fraction of cancer cells that have the capacity to grow and multiply indefinitely. How cancer stem cells retain this property while the bulk of a tumor's cells do not remains largely unknown. Using human tumor samples and mouse models, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center discovered that cancer stem cell properties are determined by epigenetic changes -- chemical modifications cells use to control which genes are turned on or off.

7 Jul 2015

Researchers make significant progress in improving survival of adult patients with low-grade gliomas

Using clinical data collected over the past decade through a U.S. cancer registry, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine demonstrated that significant strides have been made in improving the survival of adult patients with low-grade gliomas, a slow-growing yet deadly form of primary brain cancer.

2 Jul 2015

UVA Health System opens high-tech clinical genomics lab

The University of Virginia Health System has opened a high-tech clinical genomics lab that will personalize care for patients, help doctors determine the best treatments for cancers and other diseases, and allow UVA to offer the most cutting-edge clinical trials.

1 Jul 2015

Study may predict which glioblastoma patients may respond well to dasatinib drug treatment

Clinicians testing the drug dasatinib, approved for several blood cancers, had hoped it would slow the aggressive growth of the deadly brain cancer glioblastoma; however, clinical trials to date have not found any benefit. Researchers at Mayo Clinic, who conducted one of those clinical trials, believe they know why dasatinib failed — and what to do about it.

30 Jun 2015

SLU researchers find way to stop growth of cancer cells by targeting the Warburg Effect

In research published in Cancer Cell, Thomas Burris, Ph.D., chair of pharmacology and physiology at Saint Louis University, has, for the first time, found a way to stop cancer cell growth by targeting the Warburg Effect, a trait of cancer cell metabolism that scientists have been eager to exploit.

26 Jun 2015

Scientists develop small molecule drug that prevents autophagy from starting in cancer cells

As a tumor grows, its cancerous cells ramp up an energy-harvesting process to support its hasty development. This process, called autophagy, is normally used by a cell to recycle damaged organelles and proteins, but is also co-opted by cancer cells to meet their increased energy and metabolic demands.

26 Jun 2015

Detroit-area patients contribute to national study that redefines diagnosis, treatment of glioma

Sixty-seven patients from the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center at Henry Ford Hospital and their families made important contributions to a national cancer study that proposes a change in how some brain tumors are classified - and ultimately treated.

25 Jun 2015

Myriad Genetics, Chris4Life launch educational campaign to teach individuals about risk of hereditary cancer

Chris4Life Colon Cancer Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based national non-profit organization, and Myriad Genetics, a leader in personalized medicine, today announced their “What’s Your History” family history week (June 24-30, 2015).

25 Jun 2015

PD linked to increased cancer risk in Asian population

A Taiwanese population-based cohort study reports an increased risk of most cancers in patients with Parkinson’s disease, contrasting with findings in Western populations.

19 Jun 2015

Johns Hopkins researchers develop new imaging technology to help remove brain tumors safely

Brain surgery is famously difficult for good reason: When removing a tumor, for example, neurosurgeons walk a tightrope as they try to take out as much of the cancer as possible while keeping crucial brain tissue intact — and visually distinguishing the two is often impossible.

18 Jun 2015

Scientists identify gene mutation linked to anaplastic oligodendroglioma

Scientists have identified a gene mutation linked to the development of an aggressive form of brain cancer. Researchers found that errors in a gene known as TCF12 - which plays a key role in the formation of the embryonic brain are associated with more aggressive forms of a disease called anaplastic oligodendroglioma.

12 Jun 2015

Discovery may help scientists attack the root of deadliest brain tumors

Some brain tumors are notoriously difficult to treat. Whether surgically removed, zapped by radiation or infiltrated by chemotherapy drugs, they find a way to return. The ability of many brain tumors to regenerate can be traced to cancer stem cells that evade treatment and spur the growth of new tumor cells.

11 Jun 2015

Scientists find new way of classifying brain cancers

Not all brain cancers are the same but together they represent a deadly disease that has been difficult to identify and treat. Scientists at multiple institutions have found a new way of classifying brain cancers that could very well change how the illness is diagnosed and treated.