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A Catalyst for Innovation and Progress

The goal of the American Brain Tumor Association’s Research Program is to impact brain tumor diagnosis and treatment by encouraging career development in the field of brain tumor research; exploring opportunities for innovative research funding; seeking collaborative funding opportunities, and promoting information exchanges between scientists, clinicians and other health care professionals.

This year, ABTA is funding 47 researchers working on a wide-range of projects and ideas, reflecting the latest and most promising trends in brain tumor research, treatment and care.

Current projects focus on six research trends offering the most promise:

Signaling Pathways, Gene Expression and Targeted Therapies
Within our cells, genes create proteins and enzymes needed to carry out specific jobs. To do this, the proteins and enzymes “talk to each other,” passing job-related instructions back and forth and creating communication patterns. These patterns are called signaling pathways. If our genes produce abnormal proteins or enzymes, the result can be abnormal signaling pathways that spur brain tumor growth. With brain tumors, researchers are working to better understand how to block the abnormal signals or use them as therapeutic targets.

Biomarkers and Personalized Medicine
Researchers recently discovered that brain tumor cells shed tiny bits of themselves into bodily fluids. Scientists are working to determine whether there are different biomarkers for different tumors, and if more aggressive tumors have different biomarkers. Current research is exploring if these markers change over time; if they can be used to monitor patient response to treatment; and if people who respond better or worse to specific treatments share similar markers.

Imaging
The trend in imaging is combining different technologies to not only improve brain tumor diagnostics, but also to aid in brain tumor surgery, visualization and the delivery of a specific treatment. Today’s scanners combine CT and PET technology, or PET and MRI, along with new contrast agents that make brain tumor tissue, biomarkers, and even single cells easier to see. The science of combining imaging and treatment, called “theranostics,” is also starting to make inroads in brain tumor treatment.

Vaccines and Immunotherapy
Unlike the preventative vaccines that we receive as children and young adults, vaccines for the treatment of brain tumors utilize altered viruses, a patient’s own white cells, engineered tumor cells, proteins, toxins, and/or antibodies to stimulate an immune response against the tumor.

Cellular Metabolism
Cellular metabolism looks at how cells process energy sources such as glucose (sugar) or fats (lipids) and their potential roles in changing the environment and communication patterns between brain cells.

Combination Therapies
Research into drug therapies has shifted from a single drug to a combination of multiple drugs. Among the newer, most promising approaches are angiogenesis inhibitors, capable of dramatically controlling blood vessel growth when used in conjunction with chemotherapy and other treatments; drugs that block points along cell signaling pathways that support tumor growth; and repurposing drugs used for other diseases.

The ABTA distributes research funding through five primary programs:

Basic Research Fellowship Program – two-year, $100,000 grants supporting young researchers entering the field of brain tumor research.
Discovery Research Grant Program – one-year, $50,000 grants for high-risk, high-impact projects deemed to have the potential to change current diagnostic or treatment paradigms for adult and pediatric brain tumor care. Investigators from sciences outside traditional biology fields encouraged to apply.
Translational Grant Program – one-year, $75,000 grants to researchers working to transition research from the laboratory into actual patient treatment and care.
Medical Student Research Fellowship – $3,000 stipends for 10-to-12 week summer laboratory experiences. Select medical students work on brain tumor research projects with esteemed scientist-mentors.
Collaboratives: ABTA is jointly funding feasibility research and clinical studies with several organizations. These include an alliance with the Brain Tumor Funders’ Collaborative that is supporting biomarker research and a partnership with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurosurgeons Joint Section on Tumors to fund clinical research. In addition, ABTA is funding two therapeutic treatment clinical trials through a public-private partnership with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), as well as an international research fellowship training award through a partnership with EMD Serono and the Society for Neuro-oncology.

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American Brain Tumor Association
8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Ste 550
Chicago, IL 60631

Phone: 773-577-8750
Fax: 773-577-8738
CareLine: 800-886-2282
E-mail: abtacares@abta.org