As part of building awareness of brain tumours, the Hania Magiera Glioma Center Foundation is running an information and education campaign. Its aim is to highlight the importance of molecular testing for glioma, which can be the key to implementing optimal and personalised treatment.
A glioma is a type of tumour found in the brain and spinal cord. There are several types of glial cells that can produce tumours. Malignant glioma, which belongs to the diffuse astroglial tumour group, is diagnosed most often in people in their fifth and sixth decades of life, slightly more often in men than in women. This tumour accounts for approximately 15% of all primary brain tumours, and is a tumour with an extremely unfavourable prognosis, as the median survival is only several months. However, researchers are relentless in their search for innovative treatments.
One of these is broad molecular diagnostics, which is increasingly being used to diagnose the cause of many diseases, including metabolic diseases and cancer. Molecular analysis looks for the cause of the tumour in the genetic material, and the aim of examining the collected material is to find out, among other things, the genetic changes and expression profile of the tumour. In many cancer centres around the world, molecular tests are part of the standard procedure for the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours. Such analysis can be of considerable importance in the diagnosis of complex cases and can often identify mutations, suggesting therapeutic options not previously considered.
Unfortunately, molecular analysis of tumours is still performed too rarely in Poland, and when it is carried out, its scope is relatively narrow. Patients are often unaware that it is through this diagnosis that it is possible to seek innovative medical treatment that offers the hope of a more comfortable life for as long as possible.
In order to raise and disseminate knowledge among patients and their families about molecular research on brain tumours - glioma, the Hania Magiera Glioma Center Foundation, in addition to providing information through an Internet portal, also invited a number of well-known people to cooperate, who pro bono took part in a unique photo session realised by a prominent photographer, Jacek Poremba. The Foundation's initiative was supported by a plethora of celebrities such as Olga Borys, Anna Dereszowska, Sławomir Doliniec, Paulina Drażba, Krystian Kukułka, Wojciech Majchrzak, Joanna Moro, Karolina Pilarczyk, Ewelina Ruckgaber, Julia Wróblewska, Katarzyna Zielińska and Izabela Zwierzyńska, who posted the appeal on their social media.
The Foundation invites you to support and widely share the appeal for molecular diagnostics. The occasion is special, as May is Brain Tumour Awareness Month and the Foundation is taking a number of initiatives, including making available on its Facebook page the Polish version of materials developed by its partner, the US NCI-Connect organisation within the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
More information can be found on the Foundation's website https://glioma-center.com/
(source: press release)