Neuromarkers

“The primary exempt purpose of NeuroMarkers is medical research. The research at NeuroMarkers focuses on underserved communities. The main research program investigates the causes, pathogenesis, diagnosis, prognosis and therapy targets in adult and pediatric brain tumors. The outreach program aims to disseminate the discoveries from NeuroMarkers to the public, and to foster collaborations. A major topic of study is glioblastoma, the most frequent and malignant brain tumor in adults. In the underserved population, the median survival is 9.5 months from its diagnosis (from studies at NeuroMarkers). In the general population, glioblastoma research and especially its therapy are underdeveloped in comparison to other tumors, without major breakthroughs for the past 30 years. At NeuroMarkers, Dr. Georgescu proposed the first all-inclusive molecular classification of glioblastoma. This is a major breakthrough for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with glioblastoma. This classification in 7 molecular subgroups, G1-G7, is based on the tumor genetic profiles, and enables mapping therapy targets for individualized therapy and distinguishing high-risk patient subgroups benefiting of more aggressive therapies. Two studies on glioblastoma, funded by the NeuroMarkers internal grants NM2024-1 and NM2024-2, were peer-reviewed and published. (1) The first study identified a high-risk patient subgroup with glioblastoma that benefits by treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. This is the first study showing benefit of these drugs in an adult patient with Lynch syndrome-associated glioblastoma. The publication is with public open access: Adult glioblatoma with Lynch syndrome-associated mismatch repair deficiency forms a distinct high-risk molecular subgroup; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39835141/ (2) The second study shows for the first time the genetic profile of a post-traumatic glioblastoma, occurring more than 30 years following head trauma in a United States Army veteran. The study has been accepted for open access publication in the Journal of Neurosurgery Case Lessons: Calcifying pseudoneoplasm of the neuraxis progressing to G5/PDGFRA glioblastoma in a United States Army veteran with history of head trauma and germline POT1 and EPHB2 mutations. The important message from this study is that head trauma contributed together with the genetic predisposing mutations in the development of an initially benign lesion that transformed into glioblastoma. This study advocates for changes in the clinical approach to individuals at high risk for head trauma, such as US veterans. This study also shows complex algorithms to accurately determine risk factors in glioblastoma, with applications to other cancers/tumors, such as the tumor proliferation rate, and the extent of activation of the canonical tumor growth pathways. These tumor markers are crucial for the evaluation of the aggressiveness of any tumor. The original methodology and mathematical formulas devised by Dr. Georgescu are free and non-patented, for use for the entire medical and scientific community. (3) The internal outreach grant NM23-24-25 for awareness on the first, all-inclusive, molecular classification of glioblastoma funded local transportation for Dr. Georgescu to deliver the NeuroMarkers presentation of the G1-G7 glioblastoma molecular classification at the 2024 Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO) Annual Meeting, held in Houston TX. The outreach resulted in recruiting Dr. Mark Gilbert, elite neuro-oncologist and former NIH Neuro-Oncology Branch Chief, in the Advisory Board of NeuroMarkers (see also https://neuromarkers.org/outreach-1).”

“The NeuroMarkers Director of Information Technology, Elena Eftimiu, passed away. She was replaced by the new Director of Information Technology, Theodora Georgescu. The change was filed and accepted by Texas Secretary of State.”