NOB News and Research
The Neuro-Oncology Branch (NOB) is a trans-institutional initiative in neuro-oncology sponsored by both NCI and NINDS that launched in 2000. NOB’s mission is to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic agents for patients with primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors. The strategic direction of NOB is founded on the belief that the continued application of the traditional and largely empiric approach to cancer drug development that has dominated oncology for three decades will likely result in only small incremental progress in the treatment of patients with malignant gliomas.
Meaningful advances in patient outcomes will more likely result from therapeutic approaches based on a greater understanding of glioma genetics and biology with the subsequent application of that understanding toward individualized and targeted treatments for patients based on their specific tumor characteristics.
Although we understand that the idea of "personalized medicine" will only be fully realized through the engagement of the entire cancer research and cancer care enterprise, NOB functions under the premise that within the protected clinical environment and immense scientific freedom of the intramural program, we are ideally situated to build a small prototype of a biology-driven, individualized patient-centric rational therapeutics program.
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