2024 Brain Tumour Lab Tour - Dr. Adrienne Weeks' Lab

Adrienne Weeks is a neurosurgeon, interventional neuroradiologist and scientist with a particular interest in brain cancer. She is Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery at Dalhousie University. Dr. Weeks received our first ever Elevation Grant from Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada for her project highlighted below.
Project title: “Comprehensive immunophenotyping via flow cytometry of primary tumour tissue and longitudinal peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with glioblastoma to distinguish pseudoprogression from true progression”
Presented by: Adrienne Weeks - Dalhousie University, NS
Description of the project: The Weeks and Roy laboratory set out in 2020 to establish the largest longitudinal blood collection for brain tumour patients in Atlantic Canada. We aim to utilize this large patient cohort to further understand how the immune system, glioblastoma, and treatments interact in brain cancer progression. After brain cancer treatment, patients undergo MRI imaging to look for progression. Unfortunately, in a subset of patients, treatment response can look like progression on MRI; this is known as pseudoprogression. This often delays treatment decisions until the next MRI scan. This knowledge gap leads to delays in care which has a negative impact on quality of life. We hypothesize that by understanding changes in immune profiles in the blood of patients undergoing treatment, we can better inform patients and their clinicians on pseudoprogression versus true progression and improve care.