This headline grabbed my eyeballs:“Johns
Hopkins Researchers Find Promising Therapeutic Target for Hard-To-Treat Brain
Tumor.”
My first thought was “Yipee!” I wanted
to read more. So I clicked on a link that took me to an article on Healthcanal.com: http://www.healthcanal.com/cancers/42300-johns-hopkins-researchers-find-promising-therapeutic-target-for-hard-to-treat-brain-tumor.html
According
to the article, “Johns Hopkins researchers say they have found a specific
protein in nearly 100 percent of high-grade meningiomas — the most common form
of brain tumor — suggesting a new target for therapies for a cancer that does
not respond to current chemotherapy.”
My
second thought was “what’s the difference between a high grade and a low grade brain
tumor?
The
article explained in terms that even I could understand that “Most low-grade
meningiomas located in easy-to-reach locations can be treated successfully with
surgery and radiation. But more atypical, higher-grade tumors are much more
difficult to eradicate and are deadlier. “
Then
I thought, “Ok, this means that meningioma victims will now wait years until
the average victim will have some real help.”
I was wrong as the article noted that “Typically
there is a lag time before a laboratory finding like this leads to a clear path
forward to help patients. But in this case, since there is already a clinical
trial underway, we have a chance of helping people sooner rather than later,”
reported Gregory J. Riggins, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of neurosurgery at the
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the senior author of the study
published online in the journal Cancer Immunology Research.
Lastly,
while a number of organizations helped fund the research, I wasn’t surprised
that Meningioma Mommas – led by
meningioma survivor and author Liz Holzemer – was one of the organizations funding the research.
Image
credit: <a
href='http://www.123rf.com/photo_3247840_scientist-fingers-holding-a-glass-test-tube-in-a-research-lab.html'>olivierl
/ 123RF Stock Photo</a>
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