Dr Steven Pollard

Steven Pollard

UCL Cancer Institute
University College London
London

Studying stem cells in brain tumours

Dr Steven Pollard is at the forefront of research into brain tumours. His work focuses on the exciting new area of cancer stem cells. These specialised cells only make up a small proportion of the whole tumour but are believed to act as the driving force behind many cancers. Dr Pollard is investigating how cancer stem cells in the brain contribute to the development of brain tumours. He plans to use this information to find effective new ways to treat this disease.

Dr Pollard and his team have already made great progress in this field as they have managed to take cancer stem cells from human brain tumours and grow them in the lab. His team are now studying the genes and molecules controlling the characteristics of these stem cells to find out how they fuel cancer growth.

Can cancer stem cells turn harmless?

Cancer stem cells can grow and divide, producing new non-stem cells that make up the bulk of the tumour. Dr Pollard is investigating the molecular cues that trigger the cells to change in this way and become less harmful than the original stem cells.

His work has the potential to reveal 'markers' that can be used to distinguish brain tumour stem cells from less harmful cells. These could be useful to help doctors characterise different people's brain tumours and work out how they will behave and respond to treatment.

In the future, it may also be possible to use this information to develop treatments that block the activity of brain tumour stem cells or encourage them to change into harmless cells.

icon-a-z-20x20

Visit our A-Z topic pages

 

If you want to help support more research like this, please visit our Donate Now page.