Taylor Lab Ependymoma
Ependymoma is the third most common brain tumor in infants. Currently, doctors treat it with surgery and radiation, but not chemotherapy, as it hasn't extended survival in trials. PFA-ependymoma is unique because it lacks common genetic mutations, leaving no specific drug targets. Instead, it involves epigenetic changes, which act like post-it notes on DNA, telling the body what to read. Fortunately, PFA-ependymoma responds to DNA demethylation drugs and EZH2 inhibitors. We have promising evidence from children treated with Vidaza, a drug that removes these epigenetic markers.
Our Discoveries
Findings in our lab are making a difference to the clinical care and quality of life of patients with brain cancers. Our findings have led to the following paradigm-shifting insights:
Biologically distinct subgroups of ependymoma likely arise from radial glial cell progenitor cells in different parts of the central nervous system
Ependymoma has non-genetic epigenetic features that could serve as promising targets for rational therapy
Ependymoma can be targeted by CAR-T cells
Ependymoma is driven by abnormal cellular metabolism
Current focus: identifying what pushes the cell of origin down the path to disease
Help us move the dial on pediatric brain tumors.
