Imagine a war zone where the entire army has shown up to fight the enemy but for some reason won’t shoot.  For this war to be won, whatever is keeping the soldiers from fighting needs to be found and stopped.  This is the situation researchers have recently discovered in their fight against  malignant gliomas, a common type of brain tumor.  Dr. Richard C. E. Anderson from the Pediatric Neurosurgery Center recently presented this research at the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons‘ Annual Meeting.

According to Dr. Anderson, the impetus for this research is the difficulty in treating this kind of cancer.  He says, “despite surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, the prognosis can still be poor.”

He and a multicenter group of researchers have found that the presence of glioma tumor cells does trigger a large immune response in the body.  However, at some point in the tumor’s development, the immune cells sent in to fight become inhibited, leaving the deadly tumor to grow unrestricted.  He and his colleagues are trying to find out why, and exactly how, this is happening in the hopes of  somehow bolstering the patient’s own immune system to fight this deadly invader.

The troops used by the immune system to fight this cancer are specific white blood cells called Tumor Associated Microglia/Monocytes or TAMs.  According to Anderson, “They are found at a much higher frequency than any other immune cell in the presence of malignant gliomas” and inherently they are, “capable of destroying these tumor cells.”  But in laboratory tests, “TAMS are significantly impaired in the presence of malignant gliomas.”  If fully functional, the TAMS would secrete a cancer cell destroying agent called TNF-alpha.  Instead, they sit there like soldiers who have been ordered not to release any bullets.

Dr. Anderson explains further, “The TAMs do not secrete the TNF-alpha in the presence of glioma cells, not simply because the entire system is blocked, but rather there is some specific pathway to cause this, and that is what we’re trying to figure out!”

He and his colleagues have found a specific gene within the TAMs that is activated, or up-regulated, when these kinds of tumor cells are present.  When a gene is up-regulated, it becomes more sensitive or develops more receptors to be effected by an agent acting on it.  What that agent is, researchers are trying to find out.

As they know more, Anderson says they can, “attempt to reverse functional impairment of TAMs by using siRNA, blocking antibodies, or medications to inhibit up-regulation of these genes.”

Dr. Anderson is hopeful.  He says, “these initial findings are a huge clue in the continuing fight against this deadly cancer.” He and his fellow researchers now know that the soldiers are there, it’s just a matter of freeing up the troops to do battle.

People involved in this research are: at Columbia University, Richard Anderson, Shinji Shimato, Benjamin Kennedy, Mike Castelli, Peter Canoll, and Jeffrey Bruce; at Harvard University, David Anderson and Alex Kostianovsky; and at Erinyes Biotechnologies, Lisa Maier.

Dr. McKhann also served as a panelist at a breakfast seminar covering what is NEW in the surgical treatment of epilepsy.

The patient is a 34 year-old man who presents with two months of progressive right-sided hearing loss, mild right-sided facial weakness, and dizziness. MRI of the head demonstrated a right CP angle tumor.

The recent article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute details a retrospective comparison of the rates of brain tumors in Scandinavia with the rise of cell phone use since the 90′s.  In particular, they looked to see if the incidence of gliomas and meningiomas, two types of brain tumor,  increased between 1974 and 2003. Here is what they found:

From 1974 to 2003, brain tumor incidence rates in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden were stable, decreased, or continued a gradual increase that started before the introduction of mobile phones. No change in incidence trends was observed from 1998 to 2003, the time when possible associations between mobile phone use and cancer risk would be informative about an induction period of 5–10 years. JNCI

Similarly, Dr. Bruce and his colleagues performed a retrospective study in 2002 that compared 90 people who were diagnosed with Acoustic Neuromas, tumors near the ear, against a group of 86 without.  They gathered information from each person like: whether they even used a cell phone, how many minutes they talked per month, how long they had the phone, and which ear did they normally hold the phone to. Not only was there no correlation between those that had tumors and any cell phone use but there was a tendency for people to have tumors on the other side of the head than they usually held their phone.

As more time passes, the use of cell phones increases, and more research is done, then perhaps a connection will be made but by then it is quite possible that a newer technology will have developed for us to worry about.  Besides, with hands-free and texting who is going to be holding their phone to their ear anyway?

*See Dr. Bruce‘s and his colleagues’ paper: Handheld cellular telephones and risk of acoustic neuroma in Neurology 2002;58:1304-1306

Research Fellow in Neuro-oncology at The Gabriele Bartoli Brain Tumor Laboratory, Irving Cancer Research Center, Columbia University Medical Center;
The University of Chicago Brain Tumor Center, Neuro-oncology Research Fellowship 2008;
National Autonomous University of Mexico Faculty of Medicine, M.D. 2007.

Honors/Awards:

Runner-Up prize from the Award of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery, 2011

Oral presentation for top 10 abstracts at the plenary session from the Society of Neuro-Oncology Meeting, Canada, 2010

Recipient of the Research Update in Neuroscience for Neurosurgeons Award 2009 by the Society of Neurological Surgeons for the project entitled: “Longitudinal Assessment Of The Evolution Of Glioblastoma: Sequential Steps Required for Tumorogenesis Following p53 Deletion and PDGF Overexpression.”

Gabino Barreda Medal for the Highest Academic Achievement, National Autonomous University of Mexico Faculty of Medicine, 2008

Elected by The Carolina Foundation and the Spanish Government to represent Mexico in The Iberoamerican leadership congress held in Spain and Portugal, 2006

Scholarship for graduate studies in Spain by The Spanish Government and The Carolina Foundation, 2006

Best research project in Philosophy of Medicine at the Student Research Congress organized by the Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine, National Autonomous University of Mexico Faculty of Medicine, 2004

Honors/Awards
George G. Reader Prize in Public Health, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 2006
Alpha Omega Alpha, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 2006
Russek Fellow, American College of Cardiology NY Cardiovascular Symposium, 2004

Professional Memberships
American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Resident Member
Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Resident Member

Honors/Awards
American Neurological Association Medical Student Summer Research Award, 2003
American Academy of Neurology Summer Scholarship, 2003
Summer Scholarship Student; Aspen Music Festival and School, 2001
Derek Bok Center Teaching Award, Harvard University, 2000
Harvard College Research Program Grants, 1998
Invited Speaker; Harvard College Research Program Spring Symposium, 1998
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Summer Research Grant, 1998
American Digestive Health Association Undergraduate Grant, 1996