Evaluation of electrical activity as a tumour suppressor in medulloblastoma
Project Overview
Dr. Garzia works on a type of pediatric brain cancer called medulloblastoma. Kids affected by this tumor are either not cured or experience severe side effects due to the aggressive therapy. This proposal explores a possible causative link between altered neural activity and brain tumors. The team hypothesizes that altered response to neurotransmitters in the brain of predisposed kids causes brain cancer. A large number of drugs have been developed by pharma to treat stroke, epilepsy, brain trauma, and Alzheimer’s disease, many of which work by altering the electrical activity of neurons. We propose that some of these drugs might be ‘re-purposed’ as novel treatments for neuronal brain cancer. This is a previously unexplored avenue of treatment, which has the potential to significantly reduce the toxicity of current therapy to improve cure rates while also dramatically improving quality of life for surviving patients.
Principal Investigator
Livia Garzia , McGill University Health Centre Research Institute (RI-MUHC)
Partners and Donors
Canadian Cancer Society