Scorpion venom is one remedy for attacking kids’ brain tumors

The deadly Giant Yellow Israeli Scorpion may be one key to boosting the accuracy of brain tumor removal in cases involving children.

Chlorotoxin, a tumor paint made out of this scorpion's venom, is just one surgical development presented this week at the 13th International Symposium on Pediatric Neuro-Oncology, held at the Chicago Marriott Downtown.

"This is one of the biggest events of its kind," said Dr. Dr. Tadanori Tomita. A pediatric neurosurgeon at Children's Memorial Hospital, Tomita is one of the course directors of the symposium, which achieved its largest attendance in the symposium's history with 910 experts. Dr. Stewart Goldman, a pediatric oncologist at Children's, is the other director.

Studies show that chlorotoxin emits photons that give off a fluorescent glow. When inserted into a brain tumor, the chlorotoxin's glow shows surgeons where the tumor begins and ends. This makes it easier for surgeons to remove all of the cancerous tissue without harming healthy tissue.

The Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle published the research on this paint a year ago. Their most recent study on display at the conference indicates how a certain type of mouse strain is the first of its kind to show how so-called medulloblastoma cancer spreads like it does in humans.

More than 120 types of brain tumors affect more than 26,000 children in the U.S., and 3,400 cases are diagnosed each year. As a result, conferences like ISPNO help advance the body of knowledge in the field, according to conference organizers.

Out of the 200-plus papers that are being presented at the conference, small molecule therapy is one treatment being discussed. Instead of using poison to kill the cancer, this therapy, being researched by Australian scientists, tricks the cells into thinking they're healthy, Goldman said.

An additional scientific development involves implanting a tumor near a rodent's brain stem, which will allow experimenters to better approximate brain surgery on humans.

Goldman and Tomita agreed that the most effective treatments of pediatric brain tumors are effective with minimal harm, and with some luck, new types of molecules and scorpion venom may help their cause.