Florida Hospital Neurosurgeon and Team Win Award for Groundbreaking Research on Brain Tumors & Stem Cells

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NEW ORLEANS, La., Oct. 26, 2009 - Today, Florida Hospital neurosurgeon, Dr. Melvin Field, presented the results of his team's recent research studying stem cells in malignant brain tumors at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons' annual meeting in New Orleans, La. The research won the Congress of Neurological Surgeons' BrainLAB Neurosurgery Award, an accolade presented to a neurosurgeon practicing in a non-academic setting with the best research related to central nervous system tumors. Receiving this honor was especially notable this year because there were a record number of abstract submissions to the Congress for Neurological Surgeons. The research was also awarded one of the "Top Ten" abstracts of the meeting.

This study performed in Orlando identifies a specific gene marker present in brain tumor stem cells that is not present in normal non-tumor stem cells in the brain. Tumor stem cells are thought to play a critical role in making malignant brain tumors resistant to current treatments including chemotherapy and radiation therapies. The discovery of this marker provides hope to doctors and researchers that future treatments to block or target this gene may significantly improve survival in patients with the most aggressive form of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme.

This study was a collaborative effort between Florida Hospital and University of Central Florida (UCF). An entire team was involved in the research, including Dr. Sergey Bushnev, Dr. Nicholas Avgeropoulos, Dr. Angel Alvarez and Dr. Kiminobu Sugaya. The team's finding is the first of its kind, and is groundbreaking in the field of stem cell research because it could enable physicians to treat brain tumor patients more effectively, potentially resulting in better outcomes for this uniformly fatal tumor.

"This award is an incredible honor, and I feel fortunate to be able to work with such a talented group of physicians and researchers, as it is through their hard work and collaboration that such cutting-edge work and discovery can take place here in Orlando," said Dr. Field, Florida Hospital neurosurgeon and surgical director of Florida Hospital Cancer Institute Brain and Spine Tumor Program. "This is promising as Orlando continues to establish itself as a destination for medicine and science. Having brilliant researchers here in our own backyard will hopefully allow Florida Hospital to offer new treatments to patients."

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