![]() "In the world of cancers, brain tumours are considered to be pretty rare," she says. Susan Marshall, president and CEO of the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, agrees researchers still have a lot to learn to try to improve survival rates for people who develop a glioblastoma. "But it's still pretty daunting and I think the key message that needs to be out there is there's still a lot of work to be done." "I'm encouraged by the fact that we can now study the genetics in great detail, there are ways in which we can take patients' own cancer cells and grow them to test drugs on them, and we're starting to dissect the complexity better," says Dirks. (Courtesy College of American Pathologists/Reuters) What makes glioblastoma so difficult to treat is that as the tumour grows, it sends out finger-like tentacles that worm their way into surrounding brain tissue. Slides of a 2012 glioblastoma case are seen as an example in this College of American Pathologists (CAP) image. Numerous pre-clinical investigations are underway to develop better treatments - among them more effective temozolomide-like drugs, gene therapies and immunotherapies that harness the power of the immune system to destroy cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. Researchers are studying the genetics of the tumours, as well as trying to decipher what if any role neural stem cells may play in the development and recurrence of the cancer. "It's not like there's really a therapy that we can tell people, 'Well, this at least will definitely slow it down or put you into remission."' Legacy for brain tumour community "But many, many patients don't respond at all," he says. A subset of glioblastoma patients respond somewhat to the medication, prolonging their survival a little bit longer, says Dirks. igl5dOqNAs- biggest advance in the last 10 years was the development of temozolomide, a chemotherapy drug that has the ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. He raised unprecedented awareness for glioblastoma. Gord Downie's legacy extends beyond his music. "The tumours still have a habit of coming back, even if you thought you got it all, because there's still a few cells left that have been crawling deeper into the brain that have the capacity to multiply and cause the tumours to regrow," Dirks says.Īnother reason they are so tough to eliminate, he says, is that many chemotherapy agents are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier, stopping them from attacking cancer cells within the brain. ![]() Those more remote areas may harbour residual cancer cells that can spark recurrence of the cancer, despite treatment with radiation and chemotherapy. While surgery may remove the bulk of a tumour, there are often areas of the brain that can't safely be reached. "We don't want to remove or harm those areas that are essential for us to function and make us the people who we are." "We have the challenge that parts of your brain are essential for function, even the essence of who we are and how we communicate and how we laugh at jokes," he says. 'The tumours still have a habit of coming back, even if you thought you got it all, because there's still a few cells left that have been crawling deeper into the brain that have the capacity to multiply and cause the tumours to regrow.' - Dr. Peter Dirks, a senior scientist in brain tumour research at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. "It's embedded in the brain and it infiltrates into the brain in places where you just can't remove it," says neurosurgeon Dr. What makes a glioblastoma so difficult to treat is that as the tumour grows, it sends out finger-like tentacles that worm their way into surrounding brain tissue. Cancer lingo: How one person's thoughtful metaphor can be another's cliché.Gord Downie opens up about battling cancer, 'savage' memory loss.Those most affected are adults aged 45 to 75 GBMs make up only three per cent of childhood brain tumours. GBMs, as they're sometimes called, occur more often in men than in women and increase in frequency with age. He was among 1,000 Canadians diagnosed each year with glioblastoma. A woman places flowers at a makeshift memorial for Downie in Kingston, Ont.
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