Some of the top researchers in Canada had been assembled to find new treatments for aggressive brain cancer in adults and children. The scientists will be using stem cells in their efforts to discover the cause of some very aggressive forms of brain cancer with a high mortality rate.

The research team, called Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C), will be led by Dr. Peter Dirks, a neurosurgeon and researcher at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. In addition to using stem cells, the team will employ genomic and molecular profiling techniques, capable of analysing the brain in close detail.

Dr Dirks was the first scientist to discover cancer stem cells in brain tumours, back in 2003.  He suggests cancer stem cells are responsible for making the cancer so resilient: “Brain tumours in children and adults contain a small number of cells called stem cells that resist treatment and continually regenerate, driving tumour growth and recurrence after initial responses to treatment,”

The team will analyse brain cancer stem cells multiple times and profile their biological makeup. Using this biological makeup, they will identify drugs that are likely to block the fast growth of the tumours. The clinical trials will be carried out across Canada, with researchers hoping to discover the safest and most effective drug to treat this aggressive form of cancer.

The scientists will be focussing on two types of brain cancers — glioblastomas in adults and children, and posterior fossa ependymomas in infants. Currently, both types have very limited treatment options and a high mortality rate. Scientists have been using stem cells in this way to identify the treatments for other forms of cancer, but never these two types of brain cancer.

The stem cells found in brain tumours operate in a similar fashion to nerve cells in the brain. However, they become mutated in a way that promotes the growth of tumours and makes the cancer cells difficult to treat using drugs.

Once scientists understand the mutations involved with the cancer stem cells in the brain, they can also develop new drugs that target those abnormalities.

Source: ‘Dream team’ looks to stem cells for better brain tumour treatments

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