Grantee: University of California - Los Angeles Children's Hospital, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Researcher: Stanley F. Nelson, M.D.
Grant Title: Creation of Glioma-Related cDNA Microarray
Program Area: Researching Brain Cancer
Grant Type: Research Award
Amount: $450,000
Year Awarded: 1998
Tumors of the brain are devastating diseases with generally poor prognosis. In the United States an estimated 13,300 people will die from primary nervous system tumors, and 17,200 will be newly diagnosed. The current pathological classification of brain tumors relies on a few microscopically visible changes within the tumors. These classifications are inadequate for predicting the actual response of a given tumor to therapy. Abnormal growth and differentiation is a hallmark of cancer, and it is very likely that cancer cells express a different repertoire of genes as compared to their ‘normal' counterparts. It is also likely that individual tumor characteristics, such as one tumor's sensitivity to radiation and another's resistance are also reflected in the discrete sets of genes that are expressed. Recently, an approach that allows the measurement of gene expression at thousands of genes simultaneously has been described. This process, established in our lab, prints thousands of different DNAs onto glass slides about one inch by two inches. RNA extracted from the tumor is fluorescently labeled and probed onto the array. The amount of fluorescence at each DNA spot correlates with the abundance of specific mRNA transcript in the tissue. Our aim is to use available resources including a set of 33,506 genes to create a near comprehensive array of genes which are expressed in human gliomas in order to analyze gene expression alterations in human gliomas and in patient-derived laboratory cell lines. This array will create a general resource of use to the community of scientists unraveling the genetics of gliomas. With these arrays, it may be possible to classify cancers by genetic changes rather than being based primarily on cellular morphology and idiosyncratic stains. Such genetics classifications should be more predictive of outcome and provide a better tool for determining which tumors require more aggressive therapy. Finally, defining genes that are involved in the genesis of human cancers may provide important strategic insight into the development of novel therapeutic agents.