Grant: Project Grant

There are several types of brain cancer. Most of them are incurable. This includes brain tumors with mutation in the IDH1 gene. The current treatments for these diseases cause many bad side effects. In addition, they are usually unable to cure the cancers. As a result, brain tumors with IDH1 mutations often become more aggressive and lead to death. Therefore, new treatments are needed. Very recently, researchers and doctors have been testing whether drugs that can target the mutant IDH1 molecules, called IDH inhibitors, could be used as therapy. Remarkably, patients treated with IDH inhibitors have slower tumor progression. They can also wait longer before needing additional treatment. While IDH inhibitors offer new hope, not all patients respond the same way. In some patients, IDH inhibitors work well. In others, they don't work at all. The goal of our research is to find ways to make IDH inhibitors produce better responses, in a larger number of patients. We will do this by using new innovative disease models, and by studying tumors from patients treated with IDH inhibitors. Overall, our studies will help to develop better treatments for patients with IDH-mutant gliomas.