In the fruit fly's developing brain, stem cells called neuroblasts normally divide to create one self-renewing neuroblast and one cell that has a different fate. But neuroblast growth can sometimes spin out of control and become a brain tumor.

Researchers in a multi-institutional study led by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center slowed the growth of two particularly stubborn solid tumor cancers – neuroblastoma and peripheral nerve sheath tumors –without harming healthy tissues by inserting instructions to inhibit tissue growth into an engineered virus, according to study results published in the February 15 Cancer Research.