Joshua D. Bernstock, MD, PhD, in the Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Gregory K. Friedman, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues reviewed novel therapies that target oncometabolism and tumor immunometabolism.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have designed a biologic agent, dubbed EnMSCBif, to bind to death receptor 5 (DR5) on the surface of glioblastoma cells and trigger extrinsic programmed cell death. They report on the high potential of EnMSCBif to be translated into clinical use.

Brigham researchers found that miR-10b seems to regulate mRNA splicing, suggesting an exciting new approach to research not just in glioma but in cancer more generally.

Break Through Cancer is a foundation that brings together elite cancer research centers to collaborate on and accelerate research, clinical trials and cures for deadly cancers, including glioblastoma multiforme. The Brigham’s Nathalie Y. R. Agar, PhD, and E. Antonio Chiocca, MD, PhD, discuss this ambitious undertaking.

Humsa Venkatesh, PhD, a cancer biologist, is studying the neural regulation of cancer and how nervous system cells found within the tumor microenvironment drive tumor growth. Her research has implications for primary brain tumors such as gliomas and for tumors that metastasize to the brain from other parts of the body.