Genetics, biology and improved therapeutics for childhood brain tumours

The Children’s Brain Tumour Research Network (CBTRN) is a newly established collaboration between a variety of professionals with academic and clinical expertise in brain tumours, both in Manchester and elsewhere. The CBTRN (led by Dr John-Paul Kilday) is interested in the biology of childhood Central Nervous System (CNS) tumours and especially the genomic and epigenetic characterisation of paediatric ependymoma.

The network is developing clinical and translational research projects and trials for childhood Central Nervous System (CNS) tumours and collaborating with European colleagues in the identification of biological prognostic markers and novel therapeutic targets in childhood ependymoma.

The Centre is also interested in medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumour of childhood. Through Dr Martin McCabe the Centre is an active contributor to the International Cancer Genome Consortium study of medulloblastoma biology, and research has focused particularly on the role of the isodicentric chromosome 17, an abnormally re-arranged chromosome 17 seen only in medulloblastoma and, occasionally, leukaemias and related conditions. This work takes place in the Children’s Cancer Group laboratory, CRUK Manchester Institute, in collaboration with colleagues at the proteomics facility at the Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre (WMIC) and with national and international collaborators.