Brain Tumor

A study from the University of Michigan Department of Neurosurgery and Rogel Cancer Center shows promising early results that a therapy combining cell-killing and immune-stimulating drugs are safe and effective in extending survival for patients with gliomas, a highly aggressive form of brain cancer.

For the first time, researchers have found a potential drug candidate that improved outcomes for patients with a type of childhood brain tumor for which there are no effective treatments. The compound, called ONC201, nearly doubled survival for patients with diffuse midline glioma or diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, compared to previous patients.

An inter-departmental group of researchers at the Rogel Cancer Center received a grant from the National Cancer Institute to further research on radiosensitization, the process of making tumors more vulnerable to radiation treatment.

Cancerous brain tumor cells may be at ‘critical point’ between order and disorder. Large-scale coordination of brain tumor behavior may allow tumor cells to resist better against therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation, researchers say.

Using artificial intelligence, researchers have discovered how to screen for genetic mutations in cancerous brain tumors in under 90 seconds — and possibly streamline the diagnosis and treatment of gliomas, a study suggests.

Michelle Kim, M.D., associate professor of radiation oncology at Michigan Medicine, has received a Research Specialist Award from the National Cancer Institute to pursue clinical research efforts at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and nationally. Kim’s focus is on clinical research for central nervous system (CNS) tumors.

Patients whose brain tumors have a mutated enzyme called IDH1 typically live longer than those without the mutation. But even as these tumors are initially less aggressive, they always come back. A key reason: The tumors are resistant to radiation treatment and are invasive.