Visualizing the disease state in pediatric brain cancers
Gliomas are a type of brain cancer and represent the most common solid tumor type seen in children. Although adults get these cancers with lower frequency, they are fundamentally different at the molecular level. Specifically, the types of DNA mutations that occur in these tumors in children are not the same as those in adults, suggesting the disease process is different and will likely require different approaches for treatment. In this proposal, we use multiple microscopy approaches to visualize cells from these childhood gliomas with the goal of understanding how their unique mutations cause this devastating disease.