Finding could lead to potential therapiesResearchers at McGill University are hopeful that the identification of the origin and a specific gene needed for tumour growth could lead to new therapeutics to treat a deadly brain cancer that arises in teens and young adults. An unexpected findingThe researchers note that the PDGFRA gene is not usually turned on in this neuronal stem cell population. This offers hope for work into finding targeted therapies for this group of deadly brain tumours, note the researchers. They helped identify the specific timepoints during development where the cell is vulnerable to the cancer-driver event in these “gliomas”, which were revealed to be neuronal tumours. Jabado and Kleinman, who have joined efforts in the fight against deadly brain tumour.
