New insights from long-term clinical use of ctDNA-based minimal residual disease monitoring in translocation-associated sarcomas.

Introduction: Assessment of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as means to monitor disease activity in translocation-associated tumors has become very popular in clinical practice. However, there are still few studies on its clinical application to date. Our study evaluates the clinical applicability of ctDNA as a biomarker for monitoring minimal residual disease (MRD) in patients with translocation-associated sarcomas.

Impact of molecular classification on prognosis in children and adolescents with spinal ependymoma: Results from the HIT-MED database.

Background: Ependymomas of the spinal cord are rare among children and adolescents, and the individual risk of disease progression is difficult to predict. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic impact of molecular typing on pediatric spinal cord ependymomas.

Methods: Eighty-three patients with spinal ependymomas ≤22 years registered in the HIT-MED database (German brain tumor registry for children, adolescents, and adults with medulloblastoma, ependymoma, pineoblastoma, and CNS-primitive neuroectodermal tumors) between 1992 and 2022 were included.

Treatment-related survival patterns in diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma using a historical cohort: A report from the European Society for Pediatric Oncology DIPG/DMG Registry.

Background: Our aim is to investigate the association of treatment with survival in patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) by examining 6 historical treatment paths.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 409 patients with radiologically centrally reviewed DIPG, sourced from the German Society of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology HIT-HGG trial database and the SIOPE-DIPG/DMG Registry. Survival outcomes were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were estimated to study treatment effects.

Diffuse pediatric high-grade glioma of methylation-based RTK2A and RTK2B subclasses present distinct radiological and histomolecular features including Gliomatosis cerebri phenotype.

Diffuse pediatric-type high-grade gliomas (pedHGG), H3- and IDH-wildtype, encompass three main DNA-methylation-based subtypes: pedHGG-MYCN, pedHGG-RTK1A/B/C, and pedHGG-RTK2A/B. Since their first description in 2017 tumors of pedHGG-RTK2A/B have not been comprehensively characterized and clinical correlates remain elusive. In a recent series of pedHGG with a Gliomatosis cerebri (GC) growth pattern, an increased incidence of pedHGG-RTK2A/B (n = 18) was observed.