A Better Way to Remove Tumors
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas scholar Christina Tringides researches innovative ways to treat brain cancers.
Spring 2025
By Kayt Sukel
Glioblastoma, a type of insidious brain cancer, has tumors like octopus tentacles that can meander their way throughout the entire organ. That makes such tumors challenging to remove without potentially sacrificing healthy cortical tissue that plays an important role in cognitive functions.
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas’ mission is to help Texas conquer cancer. The organization recently announced its newest scholar, materials scientist Christina Tringides, whose research focuses on novel materials and neurotechnologies specifically designed to interface with the nervous system.
“When I started my Ph.D., I worked in the Mooney Laboratory for Cell and Tissue Engineering at Harvard University, which was working on a lot of hydrogels for applications in mechanobiology, as well as a lot of work in developing cancer vaccines,” she says. “It made me consider ways that we could use hydrogels in tumor resections.”
As neurosurgeons carefully remove tumors from the brain — a vital step in successfully treating many types of brain cancer — they rely on electrodes to measure signals from the surrounding tissue. This helps them preserve what’s called “eloquent brain” — the parts of the brain that control specific functions, such as movement, language production and sensation, says Tringides.
Having a device that can conform to the brain’s complex architecture, with a material that allows the electrode to flow into the ridges of the brain, allows access to more complex regions.
Those electrodes, however, are very rigid. “Many surgeons say it’s like putting a spatula on top of the brain,” she says. “It does not conform to the tissue and the surgeon has to continually reposition it as they work. But we can engineer hydrogel electrodes that can do that same kind of recording. These materials are exactly as soft as the brain, and so deformable that you can put them on the surface of the brain, and they will flow and blanket whatever is underneath.”
By using hydrogels instead of traditional electrodes, surgeons are in a better position to protect a patient’s quality of life after resection.
“Having a device that can conform to the brain’s complex architecture, with a material that allows the electrode to flow into the ridges of the brain, allows access to more complex regions,” says Tringides. “You can see whether a tumor is present, what the electrical signal is like and confirm that you are not near eloquent brain. Then you can make a more informed decision about how to proceed with the surgery.”
Tringides is excited to work in Houston, and with the CPRIT team, in a strong, multidisciplinary environment. “There are a lot of discussions, a lot of drawing on the whiteboard and a lot of planning out of new ideas as we work together to understand what is missing, what is most needed and how we can build new platforms to help in this space.”
Christina Tringides is assistant professor of materials science and nanoengineering in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing and a core member of the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative.