Childhood Brain Stem Glioma Treatment (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version

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Changes to This Summary (05/18/2016)

The PDQ cancer information summaries are reviewed regularly and updated as new information becomes available. This section describes the latest changes made to this summary as of the date above.

General Information About Childhood Brain Stem Glioma

Revised text about prognostic factors to state that World Health Organization (WHO) grade 1 tumors have a favorable prognosis; however, diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs) can range from a low-grade fibrillary astrocytoma (WHO grade 2) to glioblastoma (WHO grade 4). Revised text to state that low-grade fibrillary astrocytomas (WHO grade 2) occurring outside the pons in other brain stem locations tend to be focal tumors with a more favorable prognosis (cited McAbee et al. as reference 14). Revised text to state that children younger than 3 years diagnosed with DIPG may have a more favorable prognosis.

Treatment Option Overview for Childhood Brain Stem Glioma

Revised Table 1, Standard Treatment Options for Childhood Brain Stem Gliomas.

Newly Diagnosed Childhood Brain Stem Glioma Treatment

Revised text about surgical resection (with or without chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy) to state that treatment options include chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy.

Revised text about radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or alternative approaches for unresectable tumors to state that alternative approaches that have proven beneficial in selected cases include the use of BRAF inhibitors for tumors harboring a BRAF V600E mutation.

Recurrent/Progressive Childhood Brain Stem Glioma Treatment

Revised text about treatment options for recurrent focal brain stem gliomas to state that at the time of recurrence, a complete evaluation to determine the extent of the relapse may be indicated for selected focal lesions.

Revised text to state that chemotherapy with agents such as a carboplatin and vincristine may be effective in children with recurrent focal exophytic gliomas.

This summary is written and maintained by the PDQ Pediatric Treatment Editorial Board, which is editorially independent of NCI. The summary reflects an independent review of the literature and does not represent a policy statement of NCI or NIH. More information about summary policies and the role of the PDQ Editorial Boards in maintaining the PDQ summaries can be found on the About This PDQ Summary and PDQ® - NCI's Comprehensive Cancer Database pages.

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