Brain Tumors vs. California Stem Cell Program: Disease-a-Week Challenge #8

When Vice President Joe Biden stood beside the coffin of his son Beau, it seemed the whole world took a breath. Every parent knew what he must be feeling: one of the most powerful men on Earth, and yet he could not save his son. Beau Biden was diagnosed with a malignant brain cancer, possibly a glioma: the same malady which took the lives of Ted Kennedy, Gene Siskel, Susan Hayward, George Gershwin and too many others. Brain cancers like Beau Biden's kill about 15,000 adults each year. This is a deadly condition. Even with the best treatment available--surgery, radiation, chemotherapy--survival averages only about 15 months. Untreated? From diagnosis to death-- 4 months. Surgery? "Gliomas are often difficult to reach, due to the complex and vital pathways of the brain. Worse, these cancers do not have clean boundaries. The main tumor mass can be surgically removed, but even the best operations leave many invading cancer cells scattered throughout the brain, continuing their deadly growth. There is also the risk of damaging critical nerve pathways."--Karen Aboody, MD, personal communication Radiotherapy can have negative side effects. Chemotherapy drugs may be blocked from reaching the brain by the body's own defense, the blood-brain barrier. And when they do get through, such drugs may do harm to the healthy portion of the brain as well as the tumor. At City of Hope (COH) National Medical Center in Los Angeles, two "warrior women", Karen Aboody, MD, Professor of Neurosci...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news