The first sign of trouble for a patient with a growing brain tumor is often a seizure.
The first sign of trouble for a patient with a growing brain tumor is often a seizure. Such seizures have long been considered a side effect of the tumor. But now a joint team of Columbia engineers and cancer researchers studying brain tumors has found evidence that the seizures caused by an enlarging tumor could spur its deadly progression.
These interactions, described today in Cell Reports, were revealed using a novel mouse brain imaging technology that tracks real-time changes in brain activity and blood flow as a tumor grows in the brain. The research identifies potential new targets for diagnosing and treating glioma, a rare but aggressive form of brain cancer, notable in recent years for having claimed the lives of United States Senator John McCain and Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden.
“As gliomas spread within the brain, they gradually infiltrate surrounding brain regions, altering blood vessels and interactions between neurons and other brain cells,” said Peter Canoll, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and cell biology at Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the paper’s co-senior author. “Neuro-oncologists have generally focused on developing ways to selectively kill glioma cells, but we are also interested in understanding how infiltrating glioma cells change the way that the brain functions. We believe that this approach can lead to new treatments for this terrible disease.”
Read more at The Zuckerman Institute At Columbia University
Photo courtesy of Columbia Engineering
