Personalized brain tumor therapies: mapping mutations to immune targets
Official title: The Immortality and Evolution of Adult Brain Tumors
Funded at University of California, San Francisco · NIH-11398280 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A researcher-led effort at a major university aims to map brain tumor mutations to immunogenic targets so patients with brain tumors could receive personalized immune-based therapies.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2022 |
| Project end | August 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $179,819 |
| NIH project number | 5R50CA274229-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11398280 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults 21 years and older with brain tumors eligible for personalized immunotherapy approaches.
✕Less likely to help
Patients with tumors not driven by the studied mutations or not amenable to immunotherapy may not benefit.
What this research studies
This project uses a 3-D whole-tumor sampling approach to capture the genetic and immune landscape of brain cancers. Researchers analyze genomic, transcriptomic, and T cell receptor data from multiple tumor regions to identify neoantigens shared across the tumor. The goal is to develop personalized immunotherapies in collaboration with clinicians, moving from discovery to potential patient-specific treatment ideas. The work is deeply integrated with an interdisciplinary clinical team to translate findings into new therapeutic strategies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients with brain tumors could receive therapies tailored to the unique mutations and immune targets of their tumor.
How similar studies have gone: Similar neoantigen-targeting approaches in other cancers have shown promise, supporting the potential for brain tumor applications.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hong, Chibo — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Hong, Chibo
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
ONC206 for children with brain tumors: a first-in-children trial
A first-in-children trial will test the safety and early signs of effectiveness of ONC206, taken by mouth, in kids with malignant brain tumors like diffuse midline gliomas.
-
ONC206 for children with malignant brain tumors
A first-in-children trial tests the safety and early effectiveness of a pill that can cross the brain barrier to treat pediatric brain tumors.
-
ONC206 for children with dangerous brain tumors
A first-in-children study tests the safety and early effectiveness of an oral drug, ONC206, for kids with high-risk brain tumors that have spread or recurred.
-
Oral bacteria and brain metastasis: how the mouth may influence brain tumors
A study exploring how oral microbes may affect brain metastases and patient outcomes, with potential to guide new microbiome-based approaches.
-
Bioengineered brain barrier chip to improve drug screening for brain tumors
A small, patient-friendly brain barrier chip is being developed to test drugs for glioblastoma more accurately before they reach clinical trials.
-
Understanding how epigenetic changes drive pediatric brain tumor recurrence and how reversing them could help
A pediatric brain cancer research project is exploring how an epigenetic change (H3K27M) and tumor environment contribute to tumor coming back, using a reversible mouse model to study potential ways to prevent recurrence.
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.