Brain Tumor News and Research

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A Brain Tumor is the growth of abnormal cells in the tissues of the brain. Brain tumors can be benign (not cancer) or malignant (cancer).

Researchers create combination drug that controls both tumor growth and metastasis

Researchers at UC Davis, University of Massachusetts and Harvard Medical School have created a combination drug that controls both tumor growth and metastasis. By combining a COX-2 inhibitor, similar to Celebrex, and an epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitor, the drug controls angiogenesis (blood vessel formation), limiting a tumor's ability to grow and spread.

14 Jul 2014

Research finding offers potential therapeutic avenues for glioblastoma

Invading glioblastoma cells may hijack cerebral blood vessels during early stages of disease progression and damage the brain's protective barrier, a study in mice indicates. This finding could ultimately lead to new ways to bring about the death of the tumor, as therapies may be able to reach these deadly cells at an earlier time point than was previously thought possible.

9 Jul 2014

Mass spectrometry-based tool successfully used in brain cancer surgery

A tool to help brain surgeons test and more precisely remove cancerous tissue was successfully used during surgery, according to a Purdue University and Brigham and Women's Hospital study.

4 Jul 2014

Despite management background, VA nominee faces even bigger challenge now

Robert McDonald, the VA secretary nominee, is facing a huge bureaucracy with more than 300,000 employees. Elsewhere, a new poll finds most veterans say getting care at VA hospitals is "very" or "somewhat" difficult.

3 Jul 2014

First Edition: July 2, 2014

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a new audit's findings that the health law's online insurance marketplaces did not adequately screen applicants seeking subsidies.

2 Jul 2014

Prophage autologous cancer vaccine extends survival in patients with newly diagnosed GBM

Agenus Inc., announced final results from a single-arm, multi-institutional, open-label, Phase 2 study showing that patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) who received Agenus' Prophage autologous cancer vaccine added to the standard of care treatment, lived nearly twice as long as expected.

1 Jul 2014

Scientists report first successful step toward vaccine that targets mutation in brain cancer

Astrocytomas and oligodendrogliomas are subtypes of a brain cancer called 'glioma'. These incurable brain tumors arise from glial cells, a type of support cell found in the central nervous system.

26 Jun 2014

EnGeneIC plans for Phase 2a trial of EGFR-targeted doxorubicin-packaged EDV nanocells for GBM

EnGeneIC, Ltd., an emerging biopharmaceutical company focused on revolutionizing the treatment of cancer through the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents directly to cancer cells, today announced plans to move forward with a Phase 2a clinical trial in the U.S. using its formulation of EGFR-targeted, EDV nanocells packaged with doxorubicin for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma (GBM), a common and aggressive type of brain tumor.

26 Jun 2014

Researchers identify two oncogenes that drive the development of medulloblastoma

A new collaborative study carried out by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, UC San Diego, the German Cancer Research Center, the University of Heidelberg (Germany), and 33 other research institutions has identified two oncogenes, called GFI1 and GFI1B, that drive the development of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children.

23 Jun 2014

Researchers shed new light on how gliomas cells migrate in brain and cause devastating tumors

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have shed new light on how cells called gliomas migrate in the brain and cause devastating tumors.

20 Jun 2014

New class of tumor-targeting agents can seek out dozens of solid tumors

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center (UWCCC) report that a new class of tumor-targeting agents can seek out and find dozens of solid tumors, even illuminating brain cancer stem cells that resist current treatments.

13 Jun 2014

Gene variants that lead to longer telomeres boost brain cancer risk

New genomic research led by UC San Francisco scientists reveals that two common gene variants that lead to longer telomeres, the caps on chromosome ends thought by many scientists to confer health by protecting cells from aging, also significantly increase the risk of developing the deadly brain cancers known as gliomas.

9 Jun 2014

Synthetic peptide carrier delivers drugs through blood-brain barrier for cancer treatment

Researchers at Mayo Clinic have demonstrated in a mouse model that their recently developed synthetic peptide carrier is a potential delivery vehicle for brain cancer chemotherapy drugs and other neurological medications. The findings appear in PLOS ONE.

4 Jun 2014

Immune system-boosting therapy slows recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme

A multicenter team of investigators, led by researchers from the Cedars-Sinai Department of Neurosurgery, the Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, have found in a Phase II clinical trial that an immune system-boosting therapy slowed the recurrence of glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, the most common and deadly malignant brain tumor.

2 Jun 2014

Collaborative research effort produces new genetic insights into brainstem glioma

A collaborative effort between Duke Medicine researchers and neurosurgeons and scientists in China has produced new genetic insights into a rare and deadly form of childhood and young adult brain cancer called brainstem glioma.

2 Jun 2014

AbbVie releases preliminary results from ABT-414 Phase I study in patients with recurrent or unresectable GBM

AbbVie released preliminary results from an ongoing Phase I study with ABT-414, an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibody drug conjugate, in combination with temozolomide, which showed four objective responses, including one complete response, in patients with recurrent or unresectable glioblastoma multiforme.

31 May 2014

Researchers use computer simulations to identify drugs most likely to kill cancer cells

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center have used computer simulations of cancer cells - cancer avatars - to identify drugs most likely to kill cancer cells isolated from patients' brain tumors.

22 May 2014

SapC-DOPS technology: New way to image glioblastoma multiforme tumors

Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there. Brain tumors are an extremely serious example of this and are not only difficult to treat-both adult and pediatric patients have a five-year survival rate of only 30 percent-but also have even been difficult to image, which could provide important information for deciding next steps in the treatment process.

15 May 2014

Autoimmune epilepsy diagnostics: an interview with Dr. Joseph J. Higgins, Medical Director, Neurology, Athena Diagnostics, a business of Quest Diagnostics

Epilepsy is a group of neurological disorders often characterized by seizures and cognitive impairment due to electrical disturbances in the brain.

From Quest Diagnostics 14 May 2014

Research team identifies specific genes that may lead to improved survival of glioblastoma

A Henry Ford Hospital research team has identified specific genes that may lead to improved survival of glioblastoma, the most common and deadly form of cancerous brain tumor.

13 May 2014