Investigating new ways to treat brain tumours that spread to the spinal cord

The Rutka Lab is studying how brain tumours adapt to survive in a new environment when they spread to the spinal cord. The process of a cancer spreading from its original location and forming a tumour elsewhere in the body is called metastasis. When brain tumours metastasize, they usually spread to the spinal cord. Dr. Rutka’s Lab is investigating how brain tumour cells survive the harsh environment of the spinal cord which is much more nutrient poor than the original tumour location in the brain. They hope to determine what the cancer cells are most deprived of in the spinal cord, and find vulnerabilities that they can target, blocking the tumour cells’ survival adaptations. Many types of brain tumours can metastasize to the spine, and this stage of disease is usually fatal, so the ability to treat these late-stage brain tumours could have a big impact on patient outcomes.