SPOREs : Organ-Specific SPORE Programs : Brain

[ SPOREs: Brain | Breast | GI | GU | GYN | Head and Neck | Leukemia | Lung | Lymphoma | Myeloma | Ovarian | Pancreatic | Prostate | Skin ]

Brain SPOREs

Primary brain tumors continue to be relatively insensitive to cancer treatments like radiation and chemotherapy and little is still known about environmental or genetic risk factors. The number of different types of brain tumors number around 126, ranging from relatively benign (meningiomas) to highly malignant (glioblastomas). The term "cancer" is generally not applied to brain tumors since they are not equivalent to most other malignancies that cause damage and, ultimately death, through metastasis. Collectively, primary brain tumors are considered a rare disease, with an anticipated incidence of 18,820 new cases and 12,820 deaths in the United States in the year 2006. The Brain Tumor SPORE program was initiated in the year 2002 with the funding of two full P50 SPOREs and two P20 planning SPOREs. The current program includes four fully funded P50 SPOREs, focused primarily on the epidemiology and treatment of adult brain tumors. Therapeutic trials include those testing novel agents (e.g, nanoliposomes) alone or in combination with other agents (e.g, temozolomide) and/or radiation. Epidemiological and molecular findings suggest the immune system and, potentially, infection with the cytomegalovirus (CMV) may play a critical role in glioma risk, prognosis, and/or progression. Additional efforts are focused upon identifying and characterizing underlying immune factors and developing targeted immuotherapies for this disease. This portfolio is co-sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

To view the abstracts for the P50 SPOREs, please click on the name/address below.

The page is maintained by: Website Contact