Brain Tumor Micro-environment

Recent studies from the Kornblum lab have highlighted the importance of brain tumor vascular cells in promoting brain tumor growth (Ghochani et al., Cell Reports). Ongoing studies are identifying additional specific factors and how they interact with brain tumor cells as well as the immune system. In a surprising finding, the lab has also found that one of the mainstays of treatments for brain tumors, radiation, converts brain cancer stem cells to vascular cells through an epigenetic process (Muthukrishnan et al., Nature Communications). These new vascular cells provide trophic support to the remaining cells and interact with the immune system to promote tumor growth