Background: The prognosis for patients with pediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG) is poor despite aggressive multimodal therapy. Objective responses to targeted therapy with BRAF inhibitors have been reported in some patients with recurrent BRAF-mutant pHGG but are rarely sustained.
Methods: We performed a retrospective, multi-institutional review of patients with BRAF-mutant pHGG treated with off-label BRAF +/- MEK inhibitors as part of their initial therapy.
Pediatric low-grade gliomas (LGGs) are the most common brain tumors in children. Treatment of pediatric LGG can often be challenging, particularly when not resectable and refractory or recurrent following standard chemotherapy regimens. There is no current accepted standard of care salvage regimen for progressive LGG after the failure of first-line chemotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors (ATRTs) are a rare pediatric brain tumor with high mortality rate. Several large series have reported achieving gross-total resection (GTR) in less than 50% of patients due to the lesions' large size, vascularity, and limited blood volume in young patients. While neoadjuvant chemotherapy for choroid plexus carcinomas in pediatric patients has become widely accepted, it has not been used as widely for other pediatric brain tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Immunol Res
September 2016
Progress in the use of traditional chemotherapy and radiation-based strategies for the treatment of pediatric malignancies has plateaued in the past decade, particularly for patients with relapsing or therapy refractory disease. As a result, cellular and humoral immunotherapy approaches have been investigated for several childhood cancers. Several monoclonal antibodies are now FDA approved and commercially available, some of which are currently considered standard of practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough disruptions in the maintenance of iron and cholesterol metabolism have been implicated in several cancers, the association between variants in the HFE gene that is associated with cellular iron uptake and cholesterol metabolism has not been studied. The C282Y-HFE variant is a risk factor for different cancers, is known to affect sphingolipid metabolism, and to result in increased cellular iron uptake. The effect of this variant on cholesterol metabolism and its possible relevance to cancer phenotype was investigated using wild type (WT) and C282Y-HFE transfected human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough traumatic brain injury (TBI) can happen to anyone at any time, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have brought it renewed attention. Fortunately, most cases of TBI from the recent conflicts are mild TBI (mTBI). Still, many physical, psychological, and social problems are associated with mTBI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate short-term adaptation to vertical yoked prisms in visually normal subjects as well as to develop normative data for future comparative purposes in patients with acquired brain injury.
Methods: A full-body enclosure containing a calibrated laser pointer was used to assess egocentric localization (i.e.