Funding Agency:

University of Texas

Total Project Period:

04/01/10 - 03/31/12

Total Project Award:

Funding based on patient accrual

Principal Investigator:

Mark R. Gilbert, MD, (University of Texas); Kenneth Aldape, MD, (University of Texas)

Co-Investigator:

Ian Pollack, MD; Frank Lieberman, MD

Project Summary:

The purpose of this project is...

1. To study the clinical course of patients with ependymoma involving the brain and spinal cord. This will include comparing the impact of tumor location, type of therapy received, time to progression and overall survial.
2. To determine expression of a series of molecular markers including expression of genes/proteins in the Sonic hedgeho pathway (SHH, gli, smoothened) as well as evidence of activation of the Ras/AKT pathway (AKT, mTOR, S6, MAPK) using immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR as appropriate from patient tissue samples.
3. Determine clinical and tissue-based prognostic factors for patients with ependymoma.