Latest News

• Path to Relief Fund - Financial Assistance        

  This program, brought to you by our friends at the Head for the Cure Foundation, offers financial support to individuals diagnosed with primary malignant brain tumors. To ease the financial burden, approved funds may be used to pay for clinical trial or treatment-related airfare/lodging, or specific bills, such as rent or mortgage, utilities, medical expenses, and more. Learn more about the criteria, guidelines, and how to apply here.

  
  
• 3 People Have Gotten Cancer-Detecting Implants in Their Brains        

  Coherence Neuro, a company with ties to Neuralink, has reported early human feasibility testing of its implantable brain-computer interface during brain tumor surgeries in Australia. In three patients undergoing tumor resection, the device was temporarily placed in the brain for approximately 30 minutes to assess short-term safety and its ability to record electrical activity from tumor-related brain tissue before being removed. The procedures were designed as a proof-of-concept for intraoperative use rather than a therapeutic intervention.

  The company has stated that it is developing the technology for longer-term implantation in patients with brain tumors, with an initial focus on glioblastoma (GBM), and plans to initiate a clinical trial in the coming year to evaluate safety and feasibility of extended implantation. While the technology could have future therapeutic potential, near-term clinical investigations are expected to focus on safety and feasibility, including electrical activity recording, with electrical stimulation therapy remaining a longer-term investigational goal.

  
  
• Blocking a female-only GABA signal that helps glioblastoma evade immunity may boost survival        

  This preclinical glioblastoma (GBM) study found that the neurotransmitter GABA acts directly on a type of immune cell called a granulocytic myeloid-derived suppressor cell (gMDSC), altering arginine metabolism and making these cells more effective at suppressing the body's anti-tumor immune response -- but only in females. Using female mouse models of GBM, the researchers showed that blocking GABA receptor signaling reduced this immunosuppressive activity and improved outcomes, while having no effect in males, suggesting that GABA signaling may represent a female-specific immunotherapy target. Although GABA is best known as a neurotransmitter in the brain, this study highlights a previously underappreciated role for GABA signaling in regulating immune cells within the tumor microenvironment.

  This sex-specific signaling difference identified in mice was also supported by analyses of multiple independent human datasets and patient tumor samples, substantially increasing confidence that these findings are relevant to human GBM, although it remains unknown whether blocking GABA receptor signaling will improve outcomes for women with GBM.

  
  
• Identifying Immune Pathways Driving Aggressive Brain Cancers        

  Another study from researchers at Northwestern has also identified a mechanism by which glioblastoma suppresses the immune system. They found that tumor cells express a protein called podoplanin (PDPN), which binds to the receptor CLEC5A on tumor-associated macrophages in hypoxic, necrotic regions of the tumor. This interaction activates the Syk-JAK-STAT3 signaling pathway, driving macrophages into an immunosuppressive state that helps the tumor evade immune attack and is associated with worse patient outcomes. In mouse models, blocking CLEC5A or inhibiting Syk signaling reduced immune suppression, slowed tumor growth, and extended survival.

  Importantly, some Syk inhibitors are already FDA-approved for other diseases, raising the possibility of faster clinical translation. The authors also suggest that reversing this macrophage-driven immunosuppression may not be sufficient on its own, and that future strategies may need to combine this approach with therapies that enhance cytotoxic T-cell activity, such as checkpoint inhibitors, in order to improve immune recognition and tumor targeting in GBM.