02/26/2026
Glioblastomas are one of the most common, yet most aggressive, forms of brain cancer. Unfortunately, treatment options are limited and patients usually die within a few years of diagnosis. Brain cancers are more difficult to access and less prevalent than other cancers, leading to less research and fewer therapeutic developments.
Dr. Mahua Dey is hoping to fill this gap. Sheās developing a vaccine that trains the immune system to fight new growth of glioblastoma. This treatment would be given after tumor removal surgery with the goal of stopping the cancer from returning. This is particularly important for glioblastoma, which has a nearly 100% recurrence rate because it is impossible to completely remove all the microscopic disease with surgery.
āOne of the biggest issues with brain cancer is that no matter what we do, it always comes back,ā Dr. Dey says. āWe can't stop you from getting a brain tumor at this time, but once you have one, we can train your immune cells to kill it before it's ready to become a tumor again.ā
Her lab creates the vaccine using a patientās own tumor cells, which are genetically modified to create an immune memory boosting signal that helps the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells.
