New hope in treating childhood brain cancer.

On April 6th, in a study published in the journal Nature Genetics, scientists announced they had identified the mutation of the ACVR1 gene, which is believed to be one of the causes of DIPG – a form of brain cancer in children.

DIPG is a particularly dangerous form of brain cancer in children, and there is currently no cure because the disease develops in the brain's stem cells, making surgery to remove the tumors impossible.

According to scientists, the mutated ACVR1 gene accounts for 20-33% of DIPG tumors. This is the first time that the mutated ACVR1 gene has been detected in cancer.

Previously, another variant of the ACVR1 gene had also been discovered in "petrophilia"—a condition characterized by the radical hardening of connective tissues, leading to bone formation in muscles, connective tissues, tendons, and skin.

Scientists at the Gustave Roussy Institute (Paris, France) affirm that the research results help the scientific community better understand the mechanism of DIPG development, especially the conditions under which the disease develops in its early stages; thereby, researching drugs to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

According to VNA