Findings by a team of Israeli and American scientists researching the structure and behavior of brain tumors may open new avenues of treatment for particularly aggressive brain tumors.

Researchers from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston revealed that the orderly, layered structure of more aggressive tumors may make them more resistant to treatments. Certain layers, particularly those deep within the tumor, may be less accessible to drugs and immune cells, which could explain why current therapies are often ineffective.

By mapping how tumors arrange themselves and which cells are in each layer, researchers can potentially develop more targeted therapies.