| Project title | Cure Brain Cancer Foundation’s 2018 Contribution to the DIPG Collaborative |
|---|---|
Grant Amount | $123,302 |
Institution | Several |
Investigator Team | Several |
Grant Type | Collaborative Grant |
Years | 2018 – 2019 |
The DIPG Collaborative is made up of over 20 foundations cooperatively funding $1-2 million to DIPG research every two years. Cure Brain Cancer Foundation is a proud Foundational Partner of the Collaborative and allocated $123,302 to the Collaborative in 2018. In 2018, the DIPG Collaborative awarded $1.1 million to 7 world-class research projects.
- Grant 1: A mouse model of HIST1H3B/ ACVR1 Mutant DIPG (Dr. Chris Jones, Institute of Cancer Research, $106,647)
- Grant 2: Investigating the role of DIPG-derived exomes in tumour growth and invasion (Maria Vinci, Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital, $99,382)
- Grant 3: Short-pulse ultrasound delivery of Panobinostat for the treatment of DIPG in children (Dr. Ter Haar, Institute of Cancer Research, $100,000)
- Grant 4: Imaging to discern immunotherapeutic-induced pseudoprogression in CNS tumours (St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, $35,000)
- Grant 5: Polyamine pathway metabolism as a novel therapeutic option for DIPG (Dr. Maria Tsoli, Sydney Children’s Hospital, $175,089)
- Grant 6: Expansion of the International DIPG Registry (Dr. Mariko Dewire, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, $540,742)
- Grant 7: Credentialing an improved DIPG mouse model (Dr. Oren Becher, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, $35,000)
“The DIPG Collaborative is a collection of foundations with the shared mission of efficiently funding and inspiring DIPG cancer research with the belief that through a cure for DIPG, significant advances in other cancer research will be made.”
Mission of the DIPG Collaborative
Progress
Cure Brain Cancer Foundation’s funds to the DIPG Collaborative in 2018 were distributed to Dr. Maria Tsoli’s grant. Dr. Tsoli reports on her progress below:
We have found that the polyamine pathway is involved in the growth of DIPG. We have found therapeutically blocking the synthesis and uptake of polyamines significantly stops DIPG tumour growth and enhances survival in our preclinical models of DIPG. We have found that in combination with radiotherapy, polyamine inhibitors have a stronger effect in reducing DIPG tumour growth-enhancing, thus further survival of preclinical models of DIPG. These exciting and promising findings have the potential to drastically improve the lives of children with DIPG and with other aggressive brain tumours. DFMO and AMXT-1501 are already under investigation in paediatric and adult Phase I clinical trials and readily available for testing in a clinical trial.