A better cure for an incurable brain tumour

Brain tumours are the main causes of mortality and morbidity of children, adolescents and young adults. Gliomas are the most frequent and the most fatal kind, among which the diffuse intrinsic pontic gliomas (or DIPG) represents the most severe form, universally incurable with hardly any patients surviving more than 2 years after the diagnosis.

90 % patients’ DIPG present a common genetic alteration, which leads to a complete reorganisation of the gene expression.

Before this project these cases were divided into 2 distinct sub-group, allocated to each one along specific shared characteristics: age at diagnosis, propensity to rapidly produce metastasis, response to radiotherapy and survival time.

This project led to the identification of three distinct sub- groups of DIPG within what we used to think constituted one single group, thanks to an analysis of their differences at an epigenetic level. Epigenetics study the expression or regulation of the genes: it focuses on the sequences of the gene and analyses which are activated, and which are not.

These results will allow us to contemplate different targeted treatments for each sub-group, despite the fact that from a purely genetic point of view, they seemed to present the same genetic mutation.

This project has also produced raw data which, when analysed, will provide valuable information on the mechanisms underlying the initiation of this disease and will serve as a basis for the development of new therapeutic solutions.

This project was selected thanks to a partnership with ITCC through an open call for projects. Nine European projects applied and were reviewed by four American renowned experts. KickCancer chose the two best projects, including this one.

-This project was led by the Institut Gustave Roussy (Paris, France), in collaboration with the laboratory of the University of Heidelberg (Germany).