The the American Associaton for Cancer Research Journal publishes research article about Glioblastoma (GBM), the type of tumor that Hannah sufferred from.

Glioblastoma (GBM), the most common primary brain tumor in adults, is usually associated with a 2-year survival rate of only 10% to 25% (1). In children, primary brain tumors are the second most common type of cancer, following leukemia, with an incidence of 3.8 per 100,000 person-years (2, 3). Like adults, children who suffer from GBM have a low chance of long-term survival, thus, a better molecular understanding of these tumors may lead to new therapeutic targets.

Below is the Abstract of the article published in the American Associaton for Cancer Research Journal, titled

"YB-1 Bridges Neural Stem Cells and Brain Tumor-Initiating Cells via Its Roles in Differentiation and Cell Growth."

The article is authored by Abbas Fotovati, Samah Abu-Ali, Pei-Shan Wang, Loic P. Deleyrolle, Cathy Lee, Joanna Triscott, James Y. Chen, Sonia Franciosi, Yasuhiro Nakamura, Yasuo Sugita, Takeshi Uchiumi, Michihiko Kuwano, Blair R. Leavitt, Sheila K. Singh, Alexa Jury, Chris Jones, Hiroaki Wakimoto, Brent A. Reynolds, Catherine J. Pallen, and Sandra E. Dunn (Dr. Sandra Dunn is a Scientist & High Content Screening Director on the Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Group supported by Hannah's Heroes Fundation).

Abstract
The Y-box binding protein 1 (YB-1) is upregulated in many human malignancies including glioblastoma (GBM). It is also essential for normal brain development, suggesting that YB-1 is part of a neural stem cell (NSC) network. Here, we show that YB-1 was highly expressed in the subventricular zone (SVZ) of mouse fetal brain tissues but not in terminally differentiated primary astrocytes. Conversely, YB-1 knockout mice had reduced Sox-2, nestin, and musashi-1 expression in the SVZ. Although primary murine neurospheres were rich in YB-1, its expression was lost during glial differentiation. Glial tumors often express NSC markers and tend to loose the cellular control that governs differentiation; therefore, we addressed whether YB-1 served a similar role in cancer cells. YB-1, Sox-2, musashi-1, Bmi-1, and nestin are coordinately expressed in SF188 cells and 9/9 GBM patientderived primary brain tumor–initiating cells (BTIC). Silencing YB-1 with siRNA attenuated the expression of these NSC markers, reduced neurosphere growth, and triggered differentiation via coordinate loss of GSK3-b. Furthermore, differentiation of BTIC with 1% serum or bone morphogenetic protein-4 suppressed YB-1 protein expression. Likewise, YB-1 expression was lost during differentiation of normal human NSCs. Consistent with these observations, YB-1 expression increased with tumor grade (n ¼ 49 cases). YB-1 was also coexpressed with Bmi-1 (Spearmans 0.80, P > 0.001) and Sox-2 (Spearmans 0.66, P > 0.001) based on the analysis of 282 cases of high-grade gliomas. These proteins were highly expressed in 10/15 (67%) of GBM patients that subsequently relapsed. In conclusion, YB-1 correlatively expresses with NSC markers where it functions to promote cell growth and inhibit differentiation. Cancer Res; 71(16); 5569–78. 2011 AACR.

A full copy of the article can be found at http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/71/16/5569.full.pdf+html

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The Hannah's Heroes Foundation has been established to raise awareness and funds for pediatric Brain Cancer research. It is named in honor of Hannah Hatlen, a beautiful girl who was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour at age 4. She died a year later at age 5. There are few treatments available for children with this type of cancer and very little research goes into this. Our Wish is to change that. We will be having fundraisers through the year and all proceeds will be donated for research into this form of cancer.