scholarly journals Diagnosis and Treatment of Pediatric Brain Tumors

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (1, 2, 3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Mirsad Hodžić ◽  
Zlatko Ercegović ◽  
Dželil Korkut ◽  
Mirza Moranjkić ◽  
Harun Brkić ◽  
...  

<p><strong>Objective</strong>. Tumors of the brain and spine make up about 20% of all childhood cancers; they are the second most common form of childhood cancer after leukemia. Brain tumors are the most common solid tumor in children. Symptoms depend on a variety of factors, including location of the tumor, age of child, and rate of tumor growth. The aim of study was to present our experience with the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors in children.</p><p><strong>Patients and Methods</strong>. The aim of this study is to analyze clinicopathological characteristics, treatments, complications, and outcomes in children with brain tumors. This study is a retrospective analysis of 27 consecutive patients younger than 16 years and hospitalized for surgical treatment of brain tumors. Intracranial hypertension, neurological status, radiological computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, tumor localization, type of resection, hydrocephalus treatment, histopathology, complications, and outcome were analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results</strong>. Twenty-seven surgeries were performed in patients for brain tumors. There were 9 females and 18 males. The average patient age was 7.8 years. There were 11 (40%) children with astrocytoma; of these, there were 9 (82%) pilocytic astrocytomas and 2 (18%) ordinary histopathological subtypes of high-grade tumors.</p><p><strong>Conclusion</strong>. As with any cancer, prognosis and long-term survival vary greatly from child to child. Prompt medical attention and aggressive therapy are important for the best prognosis. Continuous follow-up care is essential for a child diagnosed with a brain tumor.</p>

Author(s):  
Jehuda Soleman ◽  
Rina Dvir ◽  
Liat Ben-Sira ◽  
Michal Yalon ◽  
Frederick Boop ◽  
...  

AbstractTraditional management of newly diagnosed pediatric brain tumors (PBTs) consists of cranial imaging, typically magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and is frequently followed by tissue diagnosis, through either surgical biopsy or tumor resection. Therapy regimes are typically dependent on histological diagnosis. To date, many treatment regimens are based on molecular biology. The scope of this article is to discuss the role of diagnosis and further treatment of PBTs based solely on MRI features, in light of the latest treatment protocols. Typical MRI findings and indications for surgical biopsy of these lesions are described.


Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1533
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. DeNunzio ◽  
Torunn I. Yock

Cancer is a leading cause of death in children with tumors of the central nervous system, the most commonly encountered solid malignancies in this population. Radiotherapy (RT) is an integral part of managing brain tumors, with excellent long-term survival overall. The tumor histology will dictate the volume of tissue requiring treatment and the dose. However, radiation in developing children can yield functional deficits and/or cosmetic defects and carries a risk of second tumors. In particular, children receiving RT are at risk for neurocognitive effects, neuroendocrine dysfunction, hearing loss, vascular anomalies and events, and psychosocial dysfunction. The risk of these late effects is directly correlated with the volume of tissue irradiated and dose delivered and is inversely correlated with age. To limit the risk of developing these late effects, improved conformity of radiation to the target volume has come from adopting a volumetric planning process. Radiation beam characteristics have also evolved to achieve this end, as exemplified through development of intensity modulated photons and the use of protons. Understanding dose limits of critical at-risk structures for different RT modalities is evolving. In this review, we discuss the physical basis of the most common RT modalities used to treat pediatric brain tumors (intensity modulated radiation therapy and proton therapy), the RT planning process, survival outcomes for several common pediatric malignant brain tumor histologies, RT-associated toxicities, and steps taken to mitigate the risk of acute and late effects from treatment.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1581
Author(s):  
Swalih P. Ahmed ◽  
Javier S. Castresana ◽  
Mehdi H. Shahi

Glioblastoma (GB) is one of the most common types of lethal brain tumors. Although several treatment options are available including surgery, along with adjuvant chemo and radiotherapy, the disease has a poor prognosis and patients generally die within 14 months of diagnosis. GB is chemo and radio resistant. Thus, there is a critical need for new insights into GB treatment to increase the chance of therapeutic success. This is why microRNA (miRNA) is being potentially considered in the diagnosis and treatment of glioblastoma. The objective of our review is to provide a holistic picture of GB up-regulated and down-regulated miRNA, in relationship with the expression of other genes, cell signaling pathways, and their role in GB diagnosis and treatment. MiRNA treatment is being considered to be used against GB together with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Moreover, the use of miRNA as a diagnostic tool has also begun. Knowing that miRNAs are isolated in almost all human body fluids and that there are more than 3000 miRNAs in the human genome, plus the fact that each miRNA controls hundreds of different mRNAs, there is still much study needed to explore how miRNAs relate to GB for its proliferation, progression, and inhibition.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiqun Zhang ◽  
Fengju Chen ◽  
Lawrence A. Donehower ◽  
Michael E. Scheurer ◽  
Chad J. Creighton

AbstractThe global impact of somatic structural variants (SSVs) on gene expression in pediatric brain tumors has not been thoroughly characterised. Here, using whole-genome and RNA sequencing from 854 tumors of more than 30 different types from the Children’s Brain Tumor Tissue Consortium, we report the altered expression of hundreds of genes in association with the presence of nearby SSV breakpoints. SSV-mediated expression changes involve gene fusions, altered cis-regulation, or gene disruption. SSVs considerably extend the numbers of patients with tumors somatically altered for critical pathways, including receptor tyrosine kinases (KRAS, MET, EGFR, NF1), Rb pathway (CDK4), TERT, MYC family (MYC, MYCN, MYB), and HIPPO (NF2). Compared to initial tumors, progressive or recurrent tumors involve a distinct set of SSV-gene associations. High overall SSV burden associates with TP53 mutations, histone H3.3 gene H3F3C mutations, and the transcription of DNA damage response genes. Compared to adult cancers, pediatric brain tumors would involve a different set of genes with SSV-altered cis-regulation. Our comprehensive and pan-histology genomic analyses reveal SSVs to play a major role in shaping the transcriptome of pediatric brain tumors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii459-iii459
Author(s):  
Takashi Mori ◽  
Shigeru Yamaguchi ◽  
Rikiya Onimaru ◽  
Takayuki Hashimoto ◽  
Hidefumi Aoyama

Abstract BACKGROUND As the outcome of pediatric brain tumors improves, late recurrence and radiation-induced tumor cases are more likely to occur, and the number of cases requiring re-irradiation is expected to increase. Here we report two cases performed intracranial re-irradiation after radiotherapy for pediatric brain tumors. CASE 1: 21-year-old male. He was diagnosed with craniopharyngioma at eight years old and underwent a tumor resection. At 10 years old, the local recurrence of suprasellar region was treated with 50.4 Gy/28 fr of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT). After that, other recurrent lesions appeared in the left cerebellopontine angle, and he received surgery three times. The tumor was gross totally resected and re-irradiation with 40 Gy/20 fr of SRT was performed. We have found no recurrence or late effects during the one year follow-up. CASE 2: 15-year-old female. At three years old, she received 18 Gy/10 fr of craniospinal irradiation and 36 Gy/20 fr of boost to the posterior fossa as postoperative irradiation for anaplastic ependymoma and cured. However, a anaplastic meningioma appeared on the left side of the skull base at the age of 15, and 50 Gy/25 fr of postoperative intensity-modulated radiation therapy was performed. Two years later, another meningioma developed in the right cerebellar tent, and 54 Gy/27 fr of SRT was performed. Thirty-three months after re-irradiation, MRI showed a slight increase of the lesion, but no late toxicities are observed. CONCLUSION The follow-up periods are short, however intracranial re-irradiation after radiotherapy for pediatric brain tumors were feasible and effective.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document