Pediatric Brain Tumor 'Think Tank' Meets for First Time

March 26, 2007

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- Thirty of the top cancer researchers in the U.S. and Canada took advantage last weekend of what was until now a rare opportunity to share the latest findings and techniques for understanding and treating pediatric brain tumors.

Top childhood brain tumor researchers with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation's Dianne and Mike Traynor (front row, center) at the recent PBTF Institute conference.

Organized by the Asheville-based Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF), the meeting featured presentations and lively discussions of the evolving science of cancers that pose some of the biggest challenges to treating and curing childhood brain tumors. The invited scientists are all participants in the PBTF Institute programs at Duke University, University of California San Francisco, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.

"It was basically a think tank, one where the latest data can be presented [to] stimulate the minds of everyone in the room," said Dr. James Rutka of the Labatt Brain Tumor Center at the Hospital for Sick Children.

For most participants, such meetings are essential for the field to make progress. "All of these high-powered groups are going down research pathways that are leading to a convergence, but without this kind of gathering, we would never actually converge," said Dr. Mitch Berger of the University of California San Francisco. "This is going to allow us to develop treatments for this disease a lot sooner."

Among the discoveries presented at the one-day conference, held March 23, were the news that certain tumors cells can be convinced to "commit suicide" simply by killing their neighboring tumor cells, strategies for delivering drugs directly to tumor cells, and possible ways to reverse the causes of some of the most common forms of childhood brain tumors.

PBTF Research Director and co-founder Dianne Traynor called the meeting an unqualified success, and said plans for a regular series of conferences are already underway. "It's clear that other funding agencies aren't providing enough chances for these scientists to get together and collaborate, so we're going to fill that gap," she said.

Funding for the PBTF Institutes comes from Ride for Kids® charity motorcycle events, PBTF radiothons and individual donations.

About the PBTF
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the largest non-governmental funder of childhood brain tumor research in the world. Its programs include free educational information about brain tumors, the Informed Parent and Survivor Internet Conference series, and college scholarships for brain tumor survivors. For more information, go to www.pbtfus.org.

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Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation
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Asheville, NC 28806

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