Current Research Project
 
Meningioma Research Laboratory
Principal Investigator: Michael W. McDermott MD
Co-Investigator: Dennis F. Deen PhD
 
The principal focus of this research is on meningiomas, the second most common primary brain tumor. Although most meningiomas are benign, recurrence after surgical treatment is not unusual. Standard therapies to date have included reoperation, external radiation therapy, and radiosurgery. In spite of these treatments, some tumors recur. Malignant meningiomas, which account for 10% to 15% of meningiomas, have a high recurrence and mortality rate within 5 years of diagnosis. Treatment of rmalignant meningiomas includes surgery and external radiation as stanard treatment. For recurrent tumors, radiosrugery and brachytherapy are options. Standard chemotherapy used to treat other types of malignant primary brain tumors has not been very effective. The effort in the Meningioma Research Laboratory, currently directed by Dr. McDermott and Dr. Dennis Deen with the assistance of research associate, Miranda Harmon-Smith, is to identify new cell surface receptor targets for therapy. They have begun screening a large number of benign atypical malignant meningiomas for variety of cell surface receptors, including EGFR, PDGFR, beta FGF and C-kit. Receptors identified with a high degree of frequency will then be targets for in vitro and in vivo work with new generation-specific receptor antagonists. A large number of frozen tissue samples are available for review and a number of meningioma cell lines have been developed. Once the in vitro work has begun, the animal testing from xenograft implants will begin and approval for the protocol has been received. In the future, the laboratory will expand its basic science investigations with recruitment of a research associate. Further work will concentrate on the issue of sex steroids hormone receptor and gene expression status as well as investigating the role of biologic agents such as modified DNA viruses for the treatment of meningiomas.