Cell-level look at glioblastoma edges and tumors that come back
Official title: Single Cell Analysis of the Infiltrative Margins of Glioblastoma and Post Treatment Recurrence
Funded at Columbia University Health Sciences · NIH-11370167 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses fresh tumor slices and single-cell methods to find which cell types at the tumor core and edge respond to different drugs for people with glioblastoma.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2017 |
| Project end | April 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $646,645 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NS103473-09 |
| Project ID | NIH-11370167 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with newly diagnosed or recurrent glioblastoma who are undergoing surgical resection and can donate tumor tissue for research.
✕Less likely to help
People with non-glioblastoma brain tumors or those who will not have tumor tissue removed during surgery are unlikely to participate or receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If you donate tumor tissue removed during surgery, researchers will keep small slices of your tumor alive so they preserve both cancer and immune cells. They will expose those slices to drugs that target dividing cells or trigger ferroptosis, alone and combined with an immune-stimulating agent, and then use single-cell RNA sequencing to see which specific cell types die or survive. The team will compare responses in the tumor core versus the infiltrative margin and also test promising combinations in animal models. The aim is to identify drug-sensitive cell groups that could point to better treatments for recurrence.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal drug combinations that kill the cells that hide at the tumor edge or drive recurrence, guiding new treatments or clinical trials for glioblastoma patients.
How similar studies have gone: Live human tumor slice cultures combined with single-cell sequencing have shown promise at identifying drug-responsive cells, but combining ferroptosis-inducing drugs with STING immune stimulation is a more novel approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Columbia University Health Sciences
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bruce, Jeffrey N — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Bruce, Jeffrey N
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.