The existing treatment regimens for children with ependymomas are generally not successful and if successful survivors are left with considerable disabilities including severely diminished IQ, focal neurological and language deficits, and endocrine deficiencies. Dr. Donovan’s current proposal aims to develop an improved targeted therapy, which will increase survival rates, and minimize the tragic effects of the existing non-specific cytotoxic therapies on Canadian children. The overall goal is to use a milder, less toxic therapeutic approach to reduce the immediate and long-term effects of paediatric brain cancer on the developing brain. Dr. Donovan’s research will test the hypothesis that patients who have ERBB2-expressing tumours may respond to ERBB2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells therapy.
