Can we find a cure for a rare childhood brain cancer?
Co-funded with:
The Brain Tumour Charity
Cancer types:
Brain cancer
Childhood cancer
Project period:
–
Research institute:
Centre de Regulacio Genomica
Award amount:
£215,868
Location:
Spain
Professor Luciano Di Croce and his team in Spain are working to find a much-needed cure for diffuse midline glioma, a rare and aggressive type of childhood brain cancer. By understanding what drives diffuse midline glioma development, the team hope to find clues towards new targeted treatments.
Why is this research needed?
Diffuse midline glioma (DMG) affects just 1 to 2 in every 100,000 people, mostly children, but DMG tumours grow fast and invade healthy brain tissue, making them very challenging to treat. Sadly, average life expectancy for patients is less than a year.
We urgently need more effective ways to treat DMG. That’s why Professor Di Croce and his team are particularly excited about their latest discovery. They have identified a possible new way to precisely target DMG, and are now using Curestarter funding to take this work further.
The team aim to establish exactly what drives DMG tumours, and investigate the best target for a potential new treatment. By the end of this project they hope to have moved an important step closer to finding a cure for this devastating childhood cancer.
Cancer knows no borders, and neither should research. International funding and collaboration are crucial for advancing cancer research because they bring together diverse expertise, resources, and perspectives. Shared knowledge accelerates discoveries, improves treatment strategies, and ensures that breakthroughs benefit patients worldwide.
What is the science behind this project?
Diffuse midline glioma (DMG), previously called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), is so rare that statistics can be hard to find. But we do know that the cancer affects around 100 to 300 hundred children every year in Europe, and the same in the USA. We also know that many DMG tumours have changes, called mutations, in a gene called H3. H3 contains important instructions that tell your cells how to store and package genetic material properly.
But mutations in H3 disrupt this process, and this affects how cells store and use its DNA which can drive cancer growth. Researchers are working hard to find a way to target these changes, and stop DMG. Professor Di Croce and his team have been creating a molecular map of all the other genes and molecules that H3 is involved with. They have found several points on this map which could be a good place to target with a new treatment.
Thanks to Curestarter funding, the team can now investigate the most promising of these targets. To do this they are using a special type of cell, called a ‘neurosphere’.
These are developed from samples donated by patients. They can help the team to understand in more detail exactly how a new treatment might work in humans.
The team are also using tiny cell models of brains in the lab, called ‘organoids’. Organoids can help the researchers find out more about how tumour cells interact with healthy areas of the brain.
These tools will allow the team to investigate exactly what drives DMG brain tumours, and what happens when the prime target is blocked. Importantly, they will also study how this affects healthy cells too, as this could indicate potential side effects for any new treatment.
What difference could this project make to patients in the future?
Research into cures for rare cancers like DMG can be particularly challenging, and progress can take time. The team hope that their exciting new findings will give the search for a DMG cure a real boost, and take them one step closer to more effective and life-saving treatments for children.
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