Why we are funding a new approach to treat brain tumours

Chemotherapy medicines are often the first line of treatment for childhood cancer and can be very good at killing cancer cells.

However, they can spread through the body and hurt healthy cells too – which is why children can experience side effects such as hair loss.

Treating childhood brain tumours adds another challenge. The brain has a strong defence called the blood–brain barrier, which protects it by keeping most substances out.

Unfortunately, this also means many chemotherapy drugs can’t reach brain tumours.

There are some chemotherapy medicines that can get into the brain, but these can still damage healthy cells elsewhere in the body – and sometimes even in the brain itself. So, what can we do?

One of our latest New Ideas Grant awardees, Professor Rylie Green at Imperial College London, is developing an innovative solution through bioengineering.

 “We are creating a tiny device that can deliver chemotherapy straight into brain tumours,” said Rylie.

“This means the treatment goes exactly where it’s needed while protecting the rest of the brain and the body.”

Rylie’s team will focus on building and testing the device in the lab to make sure it releases the right amount of medicine and works safely when implanted into the brain.

They will also study how the medicine spreads once released, to ensure it targets the tumour while leaving healthy brain tissue untouched.

Rylie said: “I feel very grateful and excited to receive this New Ideas grant. It gives us the chance to test a new approach that could make a real difference for children with brain tumours.

The hope is to reduce difficult side effects and help young people live healthier lives.”