Pitt Researchers Develop Diagnostic Tool for Profiling Pediatric Brain Cancers

A research team from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has developed a new diagnostic tool capable of profiling brain cancers in pediatric patients. Composed of pediatric neurosurgeons and researchers, the team designed a diagnostic platform that uses the body’s natural cancer-fighting immune response to classify pediatric brain tumors.

This new tool could lead to more accurate medical diagnostics and allow physicians to design targeted treatments for young patients. Since its method of classifying brain tumors complements traditional genetic and microscopic cancer analyses, this diagnostic tool could help develop cancer therapies tailored to each patient’s specific immune response.

Furthermore, it could allow physicians to leverage immunotherapies, which have revolutionized pediatric leukemia treatment, to address brain cancers. According to the researchers, understanding how immune cells interact with different types of brain cancer could aid in the development of new, more effective therapies.

Brain cancer is the second most common pediatric cancer after leukemia, accounting for one in four pediatric cancer cases, and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children. There are numerous types of pediatric brain tumors, many of which are located in regions that are difficult to access surgically and are highly resistant to conventional treatments, making them extremely hard to treat.

As a result, researchers are constantly searching for better methods to diagnose and combat pediatric brain cancers. With the recent success of immunotherapies in treating pediatric leukemia, many scientists are now investigating how the body’s natural immune response could be used to diagnose and treat pediatric brain cancers.

Immune-based therapies typically work by increasing the number of T cells, a type of white blood cell that fights cancer, to strengthen the body’s natural defenses. By teaching T cells to recognize antigens on the surface of cancer cells, immunotherapies help the immune system target and eliminate harmful cancer cells without damaging healthy cells.

Applying this precision-based approach to pediatric brain cancer diagnosis and treatment could allow physicians to deploy more effective therapies, improve survival rates, and reduce the number of childhood brain cancer deaths.

Dr. Gary Kohanbash, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurological surgery at Pitt and senior author of the study says the high success rates of T-cell-based therapies in other pediatric cancers suggest they hold significant potential in treating brain cancer as well. Further research and clinical trials will be essential to determine how these immune-based treatments can be best applied to improve outcomes for children with brain cancer.

As pediatric cancer becomes easier to diagnose, the drugs being developed by enterprises like CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) against central nervous system cancers stand a higher chance of success if these treatments are started earlier on during the disease’s onset.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP

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