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Neuro-Oncology

4 Questions With Jeffrey Leonard, MD
 4 Questions With Jeffrey Leonard, MD 1024 683 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Jeffrey Leonard, MD, is chief of Neurosurgery and the Robert F. & Edgar T. Wolfe Foundation Endowed Chair in Neurosurgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He is also a principal investigator in the Center for Childhood Cancer Research in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute and a professor of Neurological Surgery at The Ohio State University College…

Is Growth Hormone Replacement Safe Following Central Nervous System Tumors?
 Is Growth Hormone Replacement Safe Following Central Nervous System Tumors? 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

Research suggests the benefits of growth hormone therapy outweigh the risks for pediatric cancer survivors. In a new review paper, researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital evaluated the risks and benefits associated with administering growth hormone to pediatric patients after diagnosis of a central nervous system tumor. The authors conclude that the therapy has many important…

1 Year In, the Molecular Characterization Initiative Has Analyzed Samples From Over 1,000 Patients
 1 Year In, the Molecular Characterization Initiative Has Analyzed Samples From Over 1,000 Patients 1024 614 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
abstract art of magnifying glass over DNA strand

Data from the analysis helps clinicians confirm diagnoses and identify targeted treatments. The data also support new pediatric cancer research through the National Cancer Institute’s Childhood Cancer Data Initiative.   The CCDI Molecular Characterization Initiative (MCI) is a project that aims to collect, analyze and report clinical and molecular data and is currently supporting Children’s…

Study Suggests Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumors Have Altered Connectivity of Key Brain Regions
 Study Suggests Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumors Have Altered Connectivity of Key Brain Regions 1024 575 Lauren Dembeck
By: Lauren Dembeck

The findings contribute to a scant body of literature on the changes in functional connection within the brain and neurocognitive outcomes in survivors of pediatric brain tumors. Pediatric brain tumors are the most common solid tumor diagnosis among children in the United States. With advances in treatment, the 5-year survival rate among these children and…

New Initiative Aims to Bring Personalized Diagnosis and Treatment to Children With Solid Tumors
 New Initiative Aims to Bring Personalized Diagnosis and Treatment to Children With Solid Tumors 1024 614 Lauren Dembeck
By: Lauren Dembeck
abstract art of magnifying glass over DNA strand

Collaboration among National Cancer Institute, Children’s Oncology Group and Nationwide Children’s Hospital will offer molecular characterization of childhood cancers. The National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute (NCI), Children’s Oncology Group (COG), and Nationwide Children’s Hospital are poised to change the direction of pediatric cancer diagnosis and care through a new initiative that is the…

Profiling the Tumor Microenvironment Offers New Insight for Hard-to-Treat Tumors
 Profiling the Tumor Microenvironment Offers New Insight for Hard-to-Treat Tumors 1024 269 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

A multi-faceted approach to precision medicine may allow clinicians to gain a better understanding of cancer and the complex ecosystem in which it resides. The field of precision medicine has evolved in leaps and bounds in the past two decades. Genomic profiling tools that were once cost-prohibitive and slow are now reasonably affordable and fast…

Exploring the RNA Cargo of Extracellular Vesicles in Malignant Pediatric Brain Tumors
 Exploring the RNA Cargo of Extracellular Vesicles in Malignant Pediatric Brain Tumors 150 150 JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM
By: JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM

The RNA cargo within the extracellular vesicles of medulloblastoma and diffuse infiltrative pontine glioma can provide valuable insight into diagnosing and treating these malignant pediatric brain tumors. Recent studies have shed light on extracellular vesicles’ ability to use their cargo, which includes small noncoding RNA (ncRNA), to facilitate cell-to-cell communication. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from…

Study Supports Virotherapy as a Potential Treatment for Brain Tumors
 Study Supports Virotherapy as a Potential Treatment for Brain Tumors 1024 575 Nationwide Children's
By: Nationwide Children's

A new study provides additional evidence of the efficacy of virotherapy for glioblastoma, the deadliest type of brain tumor. The research findings, published in Clinical Cancer Research, indicate that an oncolytic herpes simplex virus, G207, appears to boost immune response and that this is associated with better overall survival for patients with glioblastoma. The study,…

The Impact of Genomic Medicine: Carter’s Story
 The Impact of Genomic Medicine: Carter’s Story 1024 685 Natalie Wilson
By: Natalie Wilson

In 2013, at just 1 year old, Carter Daggett was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. Now, in 2021, at 8 years old, he celebrated three years cancer free — thanks to his clinical teams and cutting-edge research by the team at the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.…

Targeting DIPG: The Most Puzzling of Pediatric Brain Tumors
 Targeting DIPG: The Most Puzzling of Pediatric Brain Tumors 772 447 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Survival has dramatically improved for numerous pediatric cancers over the last several decades, with a notable and very deadly exception: diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). Now, a community of researchers and clinician-scientists have set the stage for a renewed — and better-armed — assault against this beast of a brain tumor. The past 50 years…

Novel Genetic Driver Discovered for Pediatric Meningiomas Using Molecular Profiling
 Novel Genetic Driver Discovered for Pediatric Meningiomas Using Molecular Profiling 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Researchers have uncovered a rare subset of meningiomas with a genetic driver shared by another cancer type, opening the door to new therapeutic considerations. When an interesting or intractable cancer case arises at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, researchers and clinicians involved in the Brain Tumor Protocol through The Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine…

The Evolution of Precision Medicine for Children With Aggressive Brain Tumors
 The Evolution of Precision Medicine for Children With Aggressive Brain Tumors 150 150 Jonathan Finlay, MB, ChB, FRCP
By: Jonathan Finlay, MB, ChB, FRCP

The Head Start 4 clinical trial introduces risk stratification and builds on the success of bone marrow transplantation for young children with malignant embryonal tumors. Cancers in the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system, CNS) are now the most common cause of deaths due to disease in children and adolescents. Among these tumors,…