(New York – January 2, 2020) The Department of Neurosurgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has received more than $10 million in federal funding for several projects focusing on brain tumor research. The newest grant focuses on the use of magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT), a powerful nanotechnology-based treatment that may enhance the effects of radiation therapy and chemotherapy on glioblastoma tumors. The lead investigator is Constantinos Hadjipanayis, MD, PhD, Director of Neurosurgical Oncology at the Mount Sinai Health System and Chair of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai-Union Square.

"Our neurosurgeons are at the forefront of clinical care and scientific research with the goal of translating research findings into new therapies that will improve patient outcomes," said Joshua Bederson, MD, the Leonard I. Malis, MD / Corinne and Joseph Graber Professor of Neurosurgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Chair of Neurosurgery for the Mount Sinai Health System.

• Magnetic Hyperthermia Therapy for Glioblastoma

Dr. Hadjipanayis is the lead investigator in the $3.4 million National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study to examine the effects of MHT when used in conjunction with chemoradiation to treat glioblastoma, a devastating brain cancer that almost always relapses because therapy-resistant cancer cells infiltrate the body at the tumor's margin. The study is expected to last five years and will be conducted in close partnership with Robert Ivkov, PhD, MSc, and his team at Johns Hopkins University, who developed the novel magnetic nanoparticles the studies will use. The grant involves a pilot study at Johns Hopkins treating dogs that have spontaneously developed glioblastoma tumors.

"These are powerful magnetic nanoparticles that we deliver directly into glioblastoma tumors by convection-enhanced delivery," said Dr. Hadjipanayis. "We then apply a safe, alternating external magnetic field that oscillates the nanoparticles, which generates heat that destroys the tumor. Multiple treatments can be performed since the nanoparticles persist in glioblastoma tumors. When used in conjunction with radiation and chemotherapy, we expect this treatment will lead to improved outcomes."

• Glioma Dormancy, Stem Cell Niche, and Tumor Microenvironment

Hongyan Zou, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurosurgery, and Neuroscience, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has received a $3 million NIH-funded grant to study tumor cell dormancy in glioblastoma models. The project's goal is to dissect governing factors in the tumor microenvironment that influence tumor cell behaviors and therapy resistance. The study is expected to last five years.

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