This news item is about: Researchers in the lab of Charles Danko at the Baker Institute for Animal Health have developed a new tool to study genetic “switches” active in glioblastoma tumors that drive growth of the cancer. In a new paper in Nature Genetics, they identified key switches in different types of tumors, including switches linked to how long a patient survives. Glioblastoma is an aggressive cancer that forms in the brain or spinal cord. “It’s a devastating disease, and there are no good treatment options,” said lead author Tinyi Chu, a Croucher Foundation Graduate Fellow in Danko’s lab. Even when patients undergo treatment, most survive just 15 months post-diagnosis. In the new study, Danko’s group partnered with colleagues at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University to analyze 20 glioblastoma samples from its tissue bank.