Publications by authors named "G McCowage"
Background: Due to their anatomical locations, optic pathway gliomas (OPGs) can rarely be cured by resection. Given the importance of preserving visual function, we analyzed radiological and visual acuity (VA) outcomes for the type II RAF inhibitor tovorafenib in the OPG subgroup of the phase 2 FIREFLY-1 trial.
Methods: FIREFLY-1 investigated the efficacy (arm 1, n=77), safety, and tolerability (arms 1/2) of tovorafenib (420 mg/m2 once weekly; 600 mg maximum) in patients with BRAF-altered relapsed/refractory pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG).
Importance: The combination of ifosfamide and etoposide (IE) is commonly used to treat relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma; however, second-line treatment recommendations vary across guidelines.
Objective: To evaluate whether the addition of lenvatinib to IE (LEN-IE) improves outcomes in children and young adults with relapsed or refractory osteosarcoma.
Design, Setting, And Participants: The OLIE phase II, open-label, randomized clinical trial was conducted globally across Europe, Asia and the Pacific, and North America.
Article Synopsis
- Recent research indicates that precision medicine is effective in developing new treatment options for childhood cancers, specifically for high-risk patients with a low expected cure rate.
- In a study involving 384 patients, 67% received recommendations for precision-guided treatment (PGT), leading to a 36% objective response rate and better 2-year progression-free survival compared to standard treatments.
- The most significant benefits from PGT were observed in cases targeting specific genetic markers and when treatment started before disease progression.
Article Synopsis
- The Australian and New Zealand Children's Haematology and Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) aims to provide access to cutting-edge clinical trials for all pediatric cancers, particularly focusing on diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs), which have a very low survival rate of less than 10% at two years.
- Despite advances in research, DIPG remains a challenging cancer without a cure, necessitating new therapeutic approaches in surgery, imaging, and treatment methods.
- It is recommended that all DIPG cases be reviewed by a team of specialists, with radiation therapy as the standard treatment, and that patients are considered for clinical trials and innovative treatments based on individual