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A gene coding for a regulatory protein essential to brain development could also be "gateway" to brain tumor formation; finding could lead to new therapies A new study has found that a regulatory gene that directs stem cells during normal brain development may also play a role in the growth of the most common form of primary brain cancer. Researchers at Harvard Medical School's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report in this week's issue of Neuron that Olig 2 is apparently a "gateway" gene to formation of malignant brain tumors known as gliomas. They say the discovery could lead to new therapies...

THURSDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they're gaining greater insight into how the brain's own stem cells may trigger one of the deadliest forms of cancer. The stem cells -- which can turn into a variety of brain cells -- appear to carry a receptor that pulls in a specific chemical. If the cells get over-stimulated by the chemical, that may lead to tumor formation. The discovery, "might lead to better understanding of early growth" of brain malignancies, said study co-author Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, a professor of neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. As a result,...

Attaching a recently discovered cytokine to neural stem cells derived from bone marrow, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute have developed a tool to track and kill malignant brain tumor cells and provide long-term protection against their return. Results of an animal study are published in the March 1, 2006 issue of Cancer Research, and the researchers are now applying to regulatory agencies to translate their work into human clinical trials. Gliomas are highly invasive tumors with poorly defined borders that intermingle with healthy brain tissue, making complete surgical removal nearly impossible. Furthermore, cells separate from the...