Brain Tumor Research

The focus of Henry Ford Cancer brain tumor clinical research program is to improve patient outcomes through excellence in surgery and clinical trials. These studies provide new treatments to eligible patients before they are widely available.

Our translational research program brings laboratory and bioinformatics research to patients. Better diagnostics and treatment through analysis of tumor genetic material hold particularly exciting promise for brain tumors, which can affect a person's vital functions and are difficult to eradicate.  

Hermelin Brain Tumor Center at Henry Ford

The Hermelin Brain Tumor Center (HBTC) offers access to new brain tumor therapies through more than 25 clinical trials and research programs. 

We perform clinical trials from phase 1 to phase 3. Some of our clinical trials evaluate new treatments that have been developed at Henry Ford Health or Michigan State University.  

• HBTC is participating in the first randomized trial to assess a facilitator-directed early Advanced Care Planning intervention to optimize end-of-life decision making and quality of life of brain tumor patients and their caregivers.
• In 2015, Henry Ford joined MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, UCLA and the University of Utah in the leadership of the newly established GBM-AGILE program (Glioblastoma Adaptive Global Innovative Learning Environment). After a decade of progress, the GBM-AGILE program continues to evolve as an innovative clinical trial.
• Researchers at Henry Ford Health, HBTC and Michigan State University participate in a new virus trial that is combined with fractionated radiosurgery. This phase 1 trial is currently under way.

Our brain cancer researchers benefit from our work with:

• Brain tumor genomics: We have worked extensively to understand the genetics of brain tumors. We seek to develop therapies matched to each patient's brain tumor genetics for the best chance at recovery.
• Our brain tumor tissue bank: Our institution is home to one of the world's largest brain tumor tissue bank, providing researchers with access to a vast collection of tumor samples from a diverse patient population.
• Contributions to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA): TCGA is a national cooperative of major academic medical centers, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, which is responsible for identifying certain survival-related genes. TCGA-generated data is a major resource for our research laboratories. Find out more about The Cancer Genome Atlas.
• Brain tumor imaging research: We contribute to the multi-institutional effort to correlate clinical imaging with genotype of brain tumors. This research contributes to The Cancer Imaging Archive.
• Support for new World Health Organization (WHO) classification of gliomas: Henry Ford investigators made significant contributions to the hallmark paper on the use of epigenomics and genomics features to improve diagnosis and classification of adult gliomas.

Our brain cancer researchers collaborate closely with experts across all departments, including: neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, neuroradiology, neuropathology and radiation oncology at the Hermelin Brain Tumor Center.

Brain cancer research

Our researchers work from the molecular through the clinical levels of research. Some of our recent investigations include:

• Precision medicine for brain tumors:
  • Identifying critical biomarkers and other pretreatment screening tools to personalize tumor treatment for individual patients through our precision medicine cancer research 
  • Developing brain tumor patient-derived models for studying cancer biology and developing new therapies
  • Evaluating the outcome of specific chemotherapeutic treatments based on molecular profiling

• Integrated molecular characterization of brain tumors:
  • Developing novel analytical tools and methods to understand the link between specific intergenic regions and gene regulation associated with somatic and germline risk elements in cancer
  • Characterizing the epigenetic landscape of pituitary, thyroid and adrenocortical tumors
  • Understanding how molecularly integrated diagnosis according to WHO 2016 diagnosis groups will translate into outcomes and treatment decisions for glioma patients
• Glioma progression and treatment:
  • Studying tumor clonal evolution and extra-chromosomal oncogene amplification
  • Understanding the role of PKC in the regulation of glioma cell apoptosis and autophagy
  • Understanding self-renewal and differentiation of neural stem cells and glioma stem cells
  • Testing the inhibition of serine/threonine kinases mTOR and DNA-PK to sensitize glioblastoma to DNA-damaging treatments
  • Characterizing the role of heparinase in glioma progression