May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month (BTAM), a time to raise awareness about brain tumors and educate the community. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), about 25,000 people are diagnosed with central nervous system (CNS) tumors each year in the United States. CNS tumors collectively refer to all brain and spine tumors, of which there are more than 130 different types. 

C. Ryan Miller, M.D., Ph.D., Vishnu B. Reddy Translational Research Endowed Professor and Director of the UAB Department of Pathology’s Division of Neuropathology, describes the goal of his team's brain tumor research below.

"The mission of my lab is to develop genomics-driven approaches to diagnosis and treatment of gliomas, the most common primary brain tumors. Precision medicine promises to revolutionize neuro-oncology by tailoring treatments to specific mutations that drive cancer," says Miller. "However, this approach fails to account for the dynamic state of tumor cells and their ability to adapt to an ever-changing environment."

Miller Lab"Our lab focuses on defining the molecular changes that drive the evolution of gliomas during their progression from low-grade precursors to malignant, high-grade neoplasms. We are particularly focused on the most aggressive glioma, glioblastoma."

Miller received a $3.09 million R01 grant in 2022 to research next-generation human models to improve the development of drugs targeting glioblastoma. Glioblastoma is a complex, deadly and treatment-resistant brain cancer that is estimated to take approximately 10,000 lives in the United States per year, according to the National Brain Tumor Society.

Patients with glioblastoma are typically treated with surgery, followed by radiation and a drug, temozolomide, that Miller calls, a “DNA-damaging agent.” With no treatment whatsoever, average patient life expectancy from diagnosis is three to six months; radiation may add six to nine months and chemotherapy another three months. Miller’s research aims to identify the genetic abnormalities of these tumors and target those with new drugs. 

Read more about Miller's research here.

Learn more about Brain Tumor Awareness Month here.