From finding cancers’ paper trail to harnessing the power of the Zika virus – our latest Pioneer Awards

Glioblastoma is the most common type of brain tumour. It’s also the hardest to treat. One of the reasons for this is that drugs used to treat the disease can’t get easily get into the brain. At the University of Cambridge, Dr Harry Bulstrode is investigating whether the Zika virus, which, unlike other viruses, is able to move from the blood into the brain without damaging normal brain tissue, could be used to target cancer stem cells in mice. Infection with the Zika virus during pregnancy can cause severe disability in babies by attacking specialised cells called stem cells in the developing brain. But the virus is generally harmless in adults, typically only causing mild symptoms from which people usually recover. Glioblastomas contain rapidly dividing cancer stem cells, which resemble those in the developing brain, and Bulstrode believes that the Zika virus may be able to attack these cancer cells too.

See original article at: https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2017/05/19/from-finding-cancers-paper-trail-to-harnessing-the-power-of-the-zika-virus-our-latest-pioneer-awards/