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The Search for a Cure

Physician-researchers at UPMC Cancer Centers are pioneering efforts to develop novel strategies for earlier diagnosis, more effective treatments, and prevention methods for cancers of the brain and spine. Many of our specialists are also members of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), the research arm of UPMC Cancer Centers and the University of Pittsburgh. These researchers are exploring methods to fight cancer, ranging from investigations of the individual molecular processes within tumors, to evaluating new treatment methods in patients.

UPCI is a member institution of the Adult Brain Tumor Consortium (ABTC), the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and the newly formed international Ependymoma Clinical Trials Consortium, all of which are groups focused on evaluating new treatments for brain and spine tumors. UPCI and UPMC Cancer Centers members serve in leadership positions in all of these groups.

Current research focus includes:

• Molecularly targeted drug therapies – agents which interfere with the molecular systems that cancer cells use to grow.
• Viral vector based gene therapies – therapies that use manufactured viruses to insert genetic material into a person's cells to fight or prevent cancer
• Glioma vaccines and immunotherapy – agents which boost the ability of the natural immune system to fight gliomas
• Anti-angiogenic therapies – therapies which slow or kill tumors by cutting off their blood flow
• Molecular mechanisms of resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs – analyzing cancers to better predict which drugs will have the greatest impact
• Imaging tumor response to therapy using high field strength MRI – using powerful, sensitive imaging equipment to track the effects of treatment on a tumor
• Early prediction of tumor response of brain tumors after radiosurgery using PET-CT and novel tracers
• Radiosurgery for spinal tumors

Learn more at the UPCI Brain Tumor Program website.