Brain Tumors

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Brain Tumors: Fast Facts

• Primary brain tumors form in brain tissue because of abnormal cell growth and can occur in several different forms.
• The most common brain tumors are gliomas, which begin in the supportive, glial tissue. There are several types of gliomas: astrocytomas, brain stem gliomas, ependymomas, and oligodendrogliomas. Other types of brain tumors begin in other regions of the brain.
• In rare cases, cancer cells may break away from a malignant brain tumor and spread to other parts of the brain, to the spinal cord, or to other parts of the body.

Read more about brain and spinal-cord cancer symptoms and treatment options at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. »

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Brain Tumors: Some of Our Key Research

Targeting tumors with "paint" in the operating room
Dr. James Olson, along with researchers from the Hutchinson Center and Seattle Children's, has developed a tumor "paint," derived from scorpions, that has been shown to help surgeons to remove all cancerous cells without damaging surrounding normal tissue. Before this discovery, there had been no way to allow surgeons to see tumors "live" during surgery. The technique, which can illuminate precisely where tumors begin and end, is in the late stages of testing and could be in operating rooms soon. Read more about tumor paint. »

Boosting the effectiveness of brain tumor drugs
Drs. Patrick Paddison and James Olson use powerful technologies to find new targets for therapies that increase the effectiveness of anticancer drugs currently in clinical trials. Employing a cutting edge technology now available at the Hutchinson Center called RNA interference, Paddison's group is working to identify genetic nodes that can be shut off to make brain tumor cells more sensitive to known treatments.

Finding new treatment possibilities for childhood brain cancer

• Dr. James Olson, Hutchinson Center colleagues and researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have shown that a plant chemical known as cyclopamine stops the growth of the most common form of malignant childhood brain cancer, called medulloblastoma. Drugs like cyclopamine block a specific pathway that is critical for medulloblastoma growth. They represent a first step toward the goal of replacing more toxic therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation. Read more about anti-cancer drugs and brain tumors. »

• Olson and colleagues also found that drugs derived from vitamin A—known as retinoids—may be highly effective and minimally toxic treatments for medulloblastoma. Read more about retinoids and brain tumors. »
  

Identifying childhood brain cancer’s causes
Dr. Valera Vasioukhin and colleagues have discovered that a gene in mice that is necessary for normal brain development and may contribute to the most common form of primary brain tumors in children. Known as lethal giant larvae 1, or Lgl1, the gene was found to play a critical role in shaping cell behavior during embryonic brain development. Read more about the genetics of brain development and cancer. »

Find out more about our brain-tumor investigators:
Anneclaire De Roos » Maciej Mrugala » Beth Mueller »	James Olson » Patrick Paddison » Valera Vasioukhin »

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Brain Tumors: More Resources

• Every advance in cancer treatment in recent years has come out of clinical trials that test innovative medical approaches on patients. Find out more about clinical trials on brain tumors. »

• The Hutchinson Center also conducts ongoing cancer-prevention studies that depend on participation of healthy volunteers. Learn more about getting involved in research studies. » 

• In need of medical attention for brain tumors? Visit the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to get help. »

• The Hutchinson Center is on a mission to eliminate cancer and related diseases as causes of human suffering and death, and you can help. Make a gift today. »

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