idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
idw - Informationsdienst
Wissenschaft
Brain tumors, new concepts of tumor development, and experimental strategies for new therapies are the focus of the two-day conference "Brain Tumor 2006" jointly arranged by the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch and the Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch, Germany. Experts for Glioblastoma from Germany and abroad participate in this conference, which begins on December 7, 2006. Professor Jürgen Kiwit, head of the neurosursurgical hospital at the Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch and one of the conference organizers said: "This basic research orientated conference has become the most important forum for brain tumor research in Germany. In Europe, it is the only meeting which assembles basic researchers, neuropathologists, neurologists, and neurosurgeons together for a joint scientific discourse. The large number of 120 participants was very unusual for such an extremely specialized field as is the brain tumor research".
Professor Helmut Kettenmann, co-organizer of the MDC, pointed out that, due to the massive amount of new developments in this field, it is necessary for researchers and clinicians to sit down at one table to discuss new concepts of therapy and diagnosis.
Glioblastoma are the most common and most aggressive of the brain tumors. They appear mostly in persons in their mid-fifties or early sixties. The cause for this brain tumor is not known. During the meeting, researchers and clinicians discuss whether immune cells prevent tumor growth or, on the contrary, become accomplices of the tumor in fostering its growth as recent results seem to indicate.
The formation of new blood vessels and tumor growth are further focal points with questions including "How can growth factors that foster angiogenesis be blocked to 'starve' tumors?" Some possibilities include factors produced naturally in the body, synthetic drugs, and approaches with cannabinoids, substances of the hemp plant. A further topic of the meeting focusses on research results that indicate common features of stem cells and tumor cells, suggesting that tumor cells arise from stem cells. However, stem cells in the brain seem to be able to attack and destroy brain tumors.
Barbara Bachtler
Press and Public Affairs
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch
Robert-Rössle-Straße 10; 13125 Berlin; Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 96
Fax: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 33
e-mail: presse@mdc-berlin.de
http://www.mdc-berlin.de/englisch/about_the_mdc/public_relations/e_index.htm
http://braintumor2006.glia.mdc-berlin.de/
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