Brain’s response to a stroke may advance tumor’s progression

A study co-led by Virginia Tech researcher Qi Ye of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C., reveals how changes in the brain after injury can create conditions that support tumor growth.

After a stroke, the brain gets to work repairing damaged tissue.

But new research suggests some of the same biological processes that aid recovery may also help tumor cells grow and spread.

In a study published in Nature Cancer, researchers found that ischemic strokes — caused by blocked blood flow to the brain — altered the environment surrounding gliomas, a form of brain cancer, in ways that accelerated tumor progression.

“What we found is that glioma cells can take advantage of the same processes the brain uses to repair itself after an injury to help the tumor progress,” said Qi Ye, assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Cancer Research Center in Washington, D.C., and co-first author of the study.

“They integrate into the brain and use every chance to progress.

We need to understand how they do that and then find ways to stop it.” The findings do not mean that having a stroke causes brain cancer, Ye said.

The causes of most gliomas remain unknown, and the clinical association between a prior history of brain injury and later brain tumors does not prove that one causes the other.

Instead, this study asked whether a prior history of stroke can change the brain environment in ways that promote glioma progression.

The researchers found that a stroke can reshape the tumor environment and accelerate glioma growth and spread.

Previous population studies had reported an association between brain injury, including stroke, and brain tumors.

The report adds to ongoing university-led research relevant to veterinary medicine, animal health, and clinical decision-making.

university website: Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine