Investigation of biological aspects and response mechanisms to treatment of pediatric craniopharyngiomas

• Grant number: 06/05791-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: February 01, 2007
• End date: January 31, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Sergio Cavalheiro
• Grantee: Daniela Filippini Ierardi
• Host Institution: Departamento de Neurologia e Neurocirurgia. Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Cancer is a diseases caused by genetic alteration in genes of proteins involved in the regulation of cell proliferation and death, in cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction and in the DNA repair. The programmed cell death is apoptosis have a main role in the control of the total numbers of cell and is essential for all superior eukaryotes. This mechanism is fundamental in the tissue remodeling and all development and metamorphoses of the multicelular organisms. The breakdown of this mechanism allows the tumor cell to survive contributing to the formation and/or progression of the tumor. The apoptosis involves a cascate of events that leaves the cell death through a characteristic process that, normally, involves the activation of a protease family called caspases. One of the inductors of the apoptosis process is the cytokine Interferon, and its subtype alpha is already in use to induct the regression of the tumoral cell in a number of neoplasias. In craniopharyngiomas this cytokine is used, by our group, in the intratumoral quimiotherapy. This tumor is a rare epithelial neoplasia that arises in the hypothalamic-pituitary region. It’s responsible for 6 to 9 % of the central nervous system and for 56% of all selars and supraselars of the childhood tumors. Although it nature is benign, this tumor have a malign clinic evolution. The patophysiological aspects are due to your adverse location, the propension to invade normal adjacent tissue, to adhere to crucial intracranial and its recurrence after surgical removal. Its clinical presentation varies due to the size, location and inner content of the tumor. The lack of molecular markers for this type of tumor and the observations that the patients have different outcome to this treatment show the need and the importance of more complete studies. The morphological and biochemical characterization of the craniopharyngiomas through the establishment of cell lines and animal models will be an evolution to the understanding of the functional activities and a helpful tool to the study of the molecular characteristic involved in the tumor formation. And the characterization of each patient will allow the better understanding of the clinical features that will in a short period result in a molecular markes useful for a better diagnostic, precise prognostics and efficient therapies for this type of tumor.