This International Brain Tumour Awareness Week, we are drawing attention to some of the game-changing research taking place at one of our Centres of Excellence.
At the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), scientists are developing a cutting-edge approach to treating one of the most devastating childhood brain cancers.
PhD student Jacob Reeves, working with Dr Gabriela Kramer-Marek at the ICR Centre for Cancer Imaging, is investigating whether a drug activated by red light could be used to kill paediatric-type diffuse high-grade glioma (PDHGG) cells.
Watch our brief video of Jacob explaining his research:
PDHGG are aggressive brain tumours that mainly affect children and young adults. Sadly, most patients only survive nine to 18 months following a diagnosis.
These tumours are both diffuse – meaning they spread into healthy brain tissue surrounding the tumour – and high-grade. They often develop in the midline of the brain, in areas that control vital functions like breathing, heart rate, and sleep, making it too risky to remove the tumours surgically. Even a small operation in this region could damage parts of the brain that are essential for life.
Compounding the challenge, the immune system often fails to recognise and attack these tumours, so they are left to grow.
Jacob, who has entered the second year of his Brain Tumour Research-funded PhD, is focused on photoimmunotherapy, an innovative treatment approach that combines targeted therapy with light to destroy cancer cells and alert the immune system to the tumour.
This approach works by delivering a light-sensitive drug to cancer cells. These cells are then exposed to near-infrared light (essentially a bright red light), which activates the drug, disrupting the cell membrane (outer lining) and killing the cell. Crucially, this also alerts the immune system to the tumour, triggering an immune response.
Dr Kramer-Marek has successfully applied this treatment to glioblastoma models in the laboratory, and now Jacob is working to see if it is effective in PDHGG tumours.
So far, Jacob has shown this drug successfully targets the cancer cells and reaches the tumour in experimental models. His work will now aim to prove it can improve survival and activate the immune system.
Jacob said: "Thanks to Brain Tumour Research funding, we are exploring cutting-edge treatments for rare and devastating childhood brain cancers, which could improve the lives and outcomes of patients. I’m honoured to be a part of the valuable research happening at the Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at the ICR."
Supporting game-changing research into brain tumours requires sustainable funding. Please consider making a one-off donation, or setting up a monthly gift, to keep research alive.
Image credit: Preclinical Molecular Imaging team at the ICR
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