Targeting the Hedgehog Pathway in Pediatric Low-Grade Glioma

In this proposal, principal investigator Michael K. Cooper, MD, and colleagues at Vanderbilt University Medical Center seek to better define the pediatric glioma subtypes in which the Hedgehog signaling pathway is activated and to determine whether the delivery of Hedgehog signaling inhibitors will halt the growth of these human gliomas in an animal model. This is based on researchers’ previous work which identified compounds that inhibit Hedgehog signaling and determined that the Hedgehog pathway is activated in stem cells in some types of adult gliomas. If successful, these preclinical findings will constitute an important component for developing a novel therapeutic strategy for malignant gliomas and a basis for patient selection.

Funded in 2008.