Brain Tumors Arise From Rare Stem Cells

Brain Tumors Arise From Rare Stem Cells

Researchers at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis have found that “Brain tumors called ependymomas that occur in different parts of the central nervous system appear to arise from subpopulations of stem cells called radial glia cells (RGCs),” according to a press release.

One of the mysteries of ependymomas has been why ones that appear to be the same under a microscope have different clinical effects and prognoses when they are located in different areas of the nervous system. The tumors must be treated with radiation and surgery, as no effective chemotherapy exists. The new findings, published in this month’s issue of Cancer Cell, suggest that the stem cells need to be targeted directly so that the tumors do not regrow. This identification of potential target cells allows for the possibility of a drug treatment in these types of cancers, and the research techniques could be extended to other cancers as well.

The researchers discovered that the various types of tumors expressed genes that regulate the proliferation and differentiation of normal primitive cells in the corresponding region of the embryonic nervous system. The tumors also contained mutant RGC cells, which caused cancer when inserted into laboratory models.