Immunotherapy Opportunities Lie in Glioma Molecular Landscape
Technology Networks | December 11, 2018
Immunotherapy has proved effective in treating a number of cancers, but brain tumors have remained stubbornly resistant. Now, a new study suggests that a slow-growing brain tumor arising in patients affected by neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) may be vulnerable to immunotherapy, which gives the immune system a boost in fighting cancer. The findings, made by an international consortium led by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, were published online today in Nature Medicine. An estimated 100,000 individuals in the United States have NF1, a hereditary disease that can lead to the development of tumors throughout the nervous system, including a type of brain tumor called a glioma. Children usually have a slow-growing type of glioma, whereas adults often have a more aggressive type.