Kathryn Taylor, PhD

High-grade gliomas (HGG) are a group of aggressive and difficult-to-treat brain tumors with a 5-year survival rate of about 20%, a statistic that has remained largely unchanged for decades. Diffuse hemispheric glioma, H3G34-mutant (DHG-H3G34), is a subtype of HGG that forms in the cerebral hemispheres, the upper parts of the brain responsible for thinking, speaking, and movement. It primarily affects adolescents, with most diagnoses occurring around ages 15 to 16, and can quickly lead to severe neurological symptoms that drastically impact quality of life. Standard treatments such as surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are not curative, resulting in an average survival time of only 18 to 22 months. Despite accounting for more than 30% of pediatric or adolescent hemispheric HGGs, DHG-H3G34 remains largely understudied, and little is known about how to effectively target it.

Dr. Kathryn Taylor, a promising CureSearch Young Investigator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, is working to better understand and treat this disease. Her research focuses on understanding how cancer cells interact with neurons, the brain and nervous system cells that transmit electrical signals controlling everything from thought to movement. Recent studies have shown that some brain cancers can hijack these normal electrical signals, forming connections with nearby neurons and using the brain’s own activity to fuel their growth and spread to new areas. Dr. Taylor believes that understanding this process can be leveraged to create better treatment strategies for brain cancers like DHG-H3G34.

With CureSearch funding, Dr. Taylor will investigate how DHG-H3G34 tumors take advantage of the brain’s electrical activity to fuel tumor growth and disease progression. Using neuroscience techniques and donated tumor tissue from patients, she will study how these cancer cells respond to and connect with active neurons. By uncovering these connections, Dr. Taylor aims to identify existing, clinically available neuromodulatory drugs that could disrupt this communication and test whether they can slow or stop tumor growth. This research will not only deepen understanding of how this devastating disease functions but also open the door to repurposing existing drugs as new treatment options, bringing much needed hope to patients and families facing DHG-H3G34.