Zeroing in on improved brain cancer diagnosis and treatment: Rare Disease Day feature

See Prof Meng Law and Dr Mastura Monif explain their research

into improved diagnostic techniques and potential treatments

for brain cancer: Video (3:39 mins)

Part of our special series for Rare Disease Day featuring CCS researchers 

Dr Mastura Monif and Professor Meng Law explain how their complementary approaches are refining and improving the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours. See the video and read their stories below.

Potent glioma tumour inhibitor discovery

Left: Glioma and immune cell (microglia) interactions within the 
tumour site. The interaction between these cells and increased 
P2X7R expression creates an environment that fuels glioma growth. 
Right: The P2X7R protein and inhibitor AZ10606120 in action. 
Image: Liyen Kan

Gliomas are the most common cancers of the brain, accounting for 80% of all brain tumours. Among these, glioblastoma is the most aggressive form, killing an estimated 225,000 people worldwide per year with patients only surviving for a median of 14-15 months after diagnosis.

Importantly, current treatment options are limited to surgical removal, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and only prolong survival by a several months.

Despite advances in treatment, the prognosis for glioblastoma patients remains bleak. There is a desperate need for the development of more effective therapies.

New technique for analysing aggressive brain tumour tissue

Immunocytochemical image of
cultured tumour cells: Katrina Kan

by Anne Crawford

A Department of Neuroscience PhD student has helped develop a new, cost-effective and reliable method for studying glioblastoma, a devastating brain cancer.

Ms Katrina Kan from Dr Mastura Monif’s laboratory, was first author on a paper about a new protocol for using primary human glioblastoma tissue, published last month in Methods and Protocols.