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Developed at U-M Children with brain cancer may soon get some help from mice with the same disease, thanks to new research from University of Michigan Medical School scientists and their colleagues. The mice have the same genetic problems as those seen in many children with the most dangerous forms of brain cancer. That means the mice should be able to serve as a new test bed for treatments aimed at shrinking children’s tumors. Unlike adults with brain cancer, children cannot receive radiation therapy, so doctors must rely on medications and other strategies. Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer death in children. A lack of treatment options keeps survival rates low. “This is exciting because it’s the first animal model of pediatric high-grade gliomas, or malignant brain tumors,” says Maria Castro, Ph.D., senior author of the paper and a professor in the departments of Neurosurgery and Cell and Developmental Biology at U-M. “The mice carry the genetic mutations found in human tumors, and develop tumors that closely resemble what children and adolescents do.” Read more Funding: The study was funded by the National Institute for Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NS054193, NS061107, NS082311, NS094804, NS057711, and NS074387, and by the National Cancer Institute (CA172380), as well as the St. Baldrick’s Foundation Fellowship, and an Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation/Northwestern Mutual Young Investigator Grant. Raise your voice in support of expanding federal funding for life-saving medical research by joining the AAMC’s advocacy community.
