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Approximately 770 children are diagnosed with cancer in Australia every year. Research has explored their experiences and developed recommendations for improving support provided to families. These have included the provision of psychology services, improved communication between healthcare professionals and parents, and increased information for families.
High-grade gliomas including glioblastoma (GBM) and diffuse midline gliomas (DMG) represent the most lethal and aggressive brain cancers where current treatment modalities offer limited efficacy. Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies have emerged as a promising strategy, boasting tumor-specific targeting and the unique ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier.
The main mission of the Australian and New Zealand Children's Haematology and Oncology Group is to develop and facilitate local access to the world's leading evidence-based clinical trials for all paediatric cancers, including brain tumours, as soon as practically possible.
Tissue resident memory T cells are cancer killing immune cells that have emerged as key players in immune-mediated control of solid cancers, as well as being markers of prognosis and predictors of response to immunotherapy.
Mothers of children diagnosed with cancer have been shown to experience high rates of psychological distress and poor physical health. Pregnancy further increases the healthcare needs of mothers due to the marked physiological changes and psychological adaptations.
Previous preclinical and clinical trials have shown promising antitumour activity and toxicity profile when employing the ‘Synergy between Immunotherapy and Radiotherapy’ (SITAR) strategy. Approximately, one in seven radiation therapy studies currently recruiting is investigating SITAR.
Pineoblastoma is a rare brain tumor usually diagnosed in children. Given its rarity, no pineoblastoma-specific trials have been conducted. Studies have included pineoblastoma accruing for other embryonal tumors over the past 30 years.
Medulloblastoma is the most common childhood brain cancer. Mainstay treatments of radiation and chemotherapy have not changed in decades and new treatment approaches are crucial for the improvement of clinical outcomes. To date, immunotherapies for medulloblastoma have been unsuccessful, and studies investigating the immune microenvironment of the disease and the impact of current therapies are limited.
Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas generally occur in young school-age children, although can occur in adolescents and young adults. The purpose of this study was to describe clinical, radiological, pathologic, and molecular characteristics in patients ≥10 years of age with DIPG enrolled in the International DIPG Registry.
Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) remains a clinico-radiologic diagnosis without routine tissue acquisition. Reliable imaging distinction between DIPG and other pontine tumors with potentially more favorable prognoses and treatment considerations is essential.