By Ken Garber Cancer Brain tumors called glioblastomas are among the most vicious of cancers. Based at Children's Hospital, Boston, Snyder had already used these cells to treat such inherited diseases as Tay-Sachs in mice.
Stem cells tend to migrate throughout the brain, settling in damaged areas and initiating repair.
Maybe, Snyder mused, they could find the areas damaged by glioblastomas, which also spread widely, and deliver drugs to the cancer cells. Galambos's illness was a strong motivator. Galambos didn't make it, but Snyder's work has since borne fruit. Glioblastomas have historically been impossible to eradicate because they diffuse wildly in the brain. But the therapy still faces serious obstacles.