Grant will help fund novel use of focused ultrasound for hard-to-treat pediatric brain cancers

Fewer than 1 percent of children diagnosed with diffuse midline glioma (DMG), a rare pediatric brain cancer, are still alive within five years. About 300 children annually are diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), another pediatric cancer with a heartbreaking prognosis.

“Childhood cancers, specifically DIPG and DMG, are very difficult to treat,” said Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Assistant Professor Cheng-Chia “Fred” Wu. He is working with a team of scientists at Virginia Tech and Children’s National Hospital to develop novel approaches to help cancer drugs reach their targets. 

The brain's natural protective barrier prevents drugs from reaching cancerous cells hiding in the brain. With focused ultrasound, sound waves temporarily open the barrier without surgery and its inherent risks.

Wu’s research will be supported with a career development grant from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which advocates for pediatric cancer research and funds promising projects.

With labs at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke and the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C., Wu is using his training as a physician-scientist to take a precision-medicine approach toward treating these aggressive tumors.  

“Wu’s arrival at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute comes at a very strategic moment with the recent designation of Virginia Tech as a Focused Ultrasound Center of Excellence and with our growing partnership in cancer research with the Children’s National Hospital,” said Michael Friedlander, Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology and executive director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute.

“My dream is to advance focused ultrasound research to help children,” Wu said. His research has focused on DIPG and DMG, but he expects the work could translate into treatments for other types of brain tumors. “Having designed two clinical trials to date, I believe these findings will create new opportunities for children with this disease.”

Wu will conduct preclinical studies to target affected brain regions with sound waves, making cancerous cells more receptive to etoposide, a promising chemotherapy drug for treating DIPG and DMG. Wu is part of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute’s Cancer Research Center. He also holds an appointment as assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics in the College of Engineering.

He also works with Roger Packer, professor and physician with the Brain Tumor Institute at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and its robust clinical trials team. His position represents a unique research partnership between Children’s National and Virginia Tech.

“If the data prove promising, they will be ready to design trials for kids with the diagnoses,” Wu said. “I am very excited to be part of the larger Virginia Tech family in partnership with Children’s National. This comprehensive macroenvironment allows us to advance focused ultrasound from lab research to animal patients to clinical trials that can help kids. Working together, we can be the central hub for innovation that makes this research available as widely as possible.”

St. Baldrick’s Foundation is the largest charity funder of childhood cancer research grants, including the extended scholar grants. In addition to helping survivors and their families, it has awarded more than $352 million to explore novel approaches to childhood cancer research.