Dr. Jack Su, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine When I first chose pediatric oncology for my fellowship, invariably I was asked the question “Why would you want to take care of children with cancer?” Now that my career has evolved to working with children with brain tumors, I am still …
by David M. Panchision, Ph.D., Investigator, Center for Neuroscience Research, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, DC Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors are one of the most prevalent forms of cancer in the U.S. and are the leading cause of cancer deaths in children (1-3). Current therapies can affect all cells, as with radiation, or highly …
Ideally, when a child is diagnosed with a brain tumor, a multidisciplinary group of providers (neurosurgeons, neuropathologists, neuro-radiologists, neuro-oncologists, etc.) cooperate to determine the optimal treatment. Many factors influence the decision. Central to considerations are the classification, grading, and staging of pediatric brain tumors. With the exception of only a few tumor types and locations, …
Michael R. Kuettel, M.D., Ph.D. Abstract: Stereotactic radiation is a method of delivering focused irradiation to both benign and cancerous lesions. This form of treatment can be administered in single or multiple fractions (radiosurgery or stereotactic radiotherapy, respectively). This technology has evolved rapidly due to advances in both hardware and software design. Clinical indications for …
