Targeting Regions of Converging Synteny in Pediatric and Canine Glioma

The Comparative Oncology Trials Consortium at the National Cancer Institute have been performing canine glioma pre-clinical trials to evaluate therapeutic strategies that could benefit both dogs and humans. However, the similarity between human and canine glioma at the molecular and genomic level is unknown. Researchers recently addressed this knowledge gap by reporting on the genomic landscape of canine glioma, to demonstrate that this is similar to the genomic landscape of human glioma, and pediatric high-grade glioma in particular. This project will use high-throughput functional screens of canine and human glioma model systems, to identify and prioritize genes as potential drug targets for glioma therapy. This research will provide a basis for the development of new therapies and repurposing of existing drugs for children and dogs with brain cancer. The Children’s Brain Tumor Network supports this project through the provision of pediatric high-grade glioma data resources and cell lines.