Study reveals how brain cancer evolves in response to treatment

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown how brain tumors evolve in response to therapy, helping describe how such cancers develop treatment resistance that leads to the high mortality rate characteristic of this cancer. Only 5% of patients survive five years after diagnosis with the most aggressive brain cancers.   Published […]

Nine School of Medicine researchers receive Longer Life grants

Nine researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received funding from the Longer Life Foundation — a cooperative effort between the School of Medicine and the Reinsurance Group of America. The foundation supports research aimed at improving human health, wellness and longevity.  The researchers are:  Originally published on The Source.

NIH funds study of ultrasound with genetics to treat brain disorders

Researchers have developed methods to study and manipulate areas of the brain, though many of those methods are restricted by the limited depth that light can reach within the brain. A multidisciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis plans to overcome that limitation by integrating ultrasound with genetics to precisely modify neurons in the […]

Boosting T cells improves survival in mice with glioblastoma

Glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer in the brain or spinal cord, has proven stubbornly resistant to newer immunotherapies. And radiation and chemotherapy, the standard treatment for glioblastoma, result in fewer than 10% of patients surviving longer than five years after diagnosis. But a new study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis […]

Board grants faculty appointments, promotions, tenure

At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting Oct. 1, numerous faculty members were appointed or promoted with tenure or granted tenure, effective that day. Promotion with tenure Su-Hsin Chang, PhD, to associate professor of surgery (public health services) at the School of Medicine; Milan G. Chheda, MD, to associate professor of medicine […]

Brain Tumor Center established at Siteman Cancer Center

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital have established the Brain Tumor Center, a multidisciplinary practice of physicians and scientists whose mission is to provide leading-edge, patient-centric care for brain tumor patients while also developing transformative basic, translational and clinical research to develop new therapies and improve patient outcomes. Neurosurgeon and scientist Albert H. Kim, […]

Zika virus helps destroy deadly brain cancer in mice

The Zika virus that ravaged the Americas, leaving many babies with permanent brain damage, may have a silver lining. The virus can activate immune cells to destroy an aggressive brain cancer in mice, giving a powerful boost to an immunotherapy drug and sparking long-lasting immunological memory that can ward off tumor recurrence for at least […]

Aggressive brain tumor mapped in genetic, molecular detail

Pictured are MRI scans of eight patients with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. A new study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has mapped out detailed molecular and genetic schematics of these tumors, opening the door to potential improved therapies. (Image: Albert H. Kim)

Glioblastoma is among the most aggressive and devastating of cancers. While rare compared with other cancers, it’s the most common type of brain cancer. Even with intensive therapy, relatively few patients survive longer than two years after diagnosis, and fewer than 10% of patients survive beyond five years. Despite extensive studies focused on genomic features […]

Zika’s Silver Lining: Fighting Cancer

The virus may yield a potent weapon against a deadlier disease. From Bloomberg… The scientists took their cues from the epidemic itself. Knowing how Zika attacked the developing brain, they wondered if the virus could have the same impact on brain tumors. “There’s a major effort to study viruses for their potential in treating illness,” Oswaldo K. […]

Cancer weapon

Zika virus kills glioblastoma stem cells in early research From WashU’s Outlook Magazine… While Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it one day may be an effective treatment for glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. New research from Washington University School of Medicine and the University of California San […]

Zika virus kills brain cancer stem cells

Virus potentially could be used to treat deadly disease From the WashU Newsroom… While Zika virus causes devastating damage to the brains of developing fetuses, it one day may be an effective treatment for glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of […]