Released: 2/11/2014 6:00 PM EST Source Newsroom: City of Hope Contact Information

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Newswise DUARTE, Calif. Despite continual advances in the treatment of brain tumors, infants and children diagnosed with medulloblastoma a fast-growing tumor in the cerebellum portion of the brain still face significant challenges overcoming this disease. One particularly tricky obstacle is the blood-brain barrier, which prevents cancer drugs from passing into the brain and attacking the tumor. Margarita Gutova, M.D., an assistant research professor in City of Hopes Department of Neurosciences, may have found a way to bypass that hurdle using neural stem cells.

Neural stem cells offer a novel way to overcome this obstacle because they can cross the blood-brain-barrier, migrate to and selectively target tumor cells throughout the brain, Gutova said. The cells also can be engineered to help deliver anti-cancer agents directly to the tumor site, effectively targeting cancer cells while minimizing harm to surrounding normal tissue.

Five foundations Alexs Lemonade Stand Foundation, Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF), The Matthew Larson Foundation for Pediatric Brain Tumors and two anonymous foundations have announced grants totaling $450,000 in support of Gutovas work, allowing her to continue her preclinical studies of this novel treatment method. If additional research proves promising, human clinical trials could begin in three to five years, Gutova said.

Ultimately, Gutova hopes to develop neural stem cells into a potent and highly targeted therapy that is superior to current medulloblastoma treatments: surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Surgery can leave behind residual cancerous cells that will continue to grow after the procedure, and radiation and chemotherapy can affect normal brain tissue.

This is especially damaging to brain and skeletal development, especially for pediatric patients still-growing bodies, Gutova said of current treatments.

In addition to testing the efficacy of neural stem cell-mediated therapy, Gutova will study the intranasal administration of neural stem cells. This novel delivery method is non-invasive and, if proven effective, will reduce the number of complicated procedures and their associated risks that a patient has to endure.

When the traditional treatment protocol failed for my daughter Alex, clinical trials became our best and only option for combating her cancer, said Jay Scott, co-executive director of Alexs Lemonade Stand Foundation. We know firsthand how important these trials are to bettering the lives of childhood cancer patients, and we are dedicated to bringing promising research from the lab to the clinic. We see promise in Dr. Gutovas brain tumor research and are glad to be able to support her efforts.

We are proud to support City of Hope and Dr. Gutovas research. City of Hope is a leader in making a difference every day in the laboratory, clinics and the lives or our young patients, said, Jeri Wilson, executive director of PCRF. I know Dr. Gutova and her colleagues will strive every day to ensure their research delivers the best possible outcomes to families who so richly deserve a cure.

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City of Hope Researcher Receives Five Grants Totaling $450,000 to Fight Pediatric Brain Tumors