Pediatric Brain Tumors: From Diagnosis to Treatment

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Oncology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 5016

Special Issue Editors

Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
Interests: pediatric neurosurgery; congenital CNS malformations; neuro-oncology; developmental biology; spine and spinal cord tumors; spinal tumors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Boston Children’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Interests: neurosurgery; brain tumors; spinal cord tumors
Department of Pediatrics, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA
Interests: pediatric neuro-oncology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Brain tumors are the most common solid tumors in children. Malignant tumors such as embryonal tumors including medulloblastoma and ATRT, high-grade gliomas, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), and ependymoma are often refractory to surgical resection and adjuvant radio-chemotherapy,  thus leading to a poor quality of life or even survival of infants and young children.  Even benign tumors like midline gliomas and craniopharyngiomas present with management difficulties and the patients often need multimodal therapy.

This special issue presents translational and clinical research articles and high-quality review papers focusing on the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric brain tumors.  They are from the fields of neurosurgery, pediatric neuro-oncology, radiation oncology, neuroradiology, neuropathology, immunotherapy, and late effect study. We welcome articles describing innovative diagnostic methods (e.g., neuroimaging; liquid biopsy; molecular classification), novel therapeutic approaches, and the results of institutional or multi-center clinical trials of drug /radiation therapies.  We also solicit advanced genomic and epigenomic analyses that contribute to sub-grouping and identifying molecular targets.  Neurosurgical advances including minimally invasive surgery and regional therapy using convection-enhanced drug delivery, radiation therapy, and thermo-ablation are reviewed for the care of children with pediatric brain tumors. Comprehensive up-to-date reviews to these topics enhance our understanding of the current status and future directions of diagnosis and treatments of pediatric brain tumors

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Tadanori Tomita
Dr. Lissa C. Baird
Dr. Alicia Lenzen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • brain tumor
  • children
  • pediatric neurosurgery
  • pediatric neuro-oncology
  • diffuse midline glioma
  • medulloblastoma
  • AT/RT
  • ependymoma
  • low-grade glioma
  • craniopharyngioma
  • immunotherapy
  • chemotherapy
  • radiation therapy

Published Papers (3 papers)

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17 pages, 2764 KiB  
Article
WDR82-Mediated H3K4me3 Is Associated with Tumor Proliferation and Therapeutic Efficacy in Pediatric High-Grade Gliomas
by Nitin Wadhwani, Sonali Nayak, Yufen Wang, Rintaro Hashizume, Chunfa Jie, Barbara Mania-Farnell, Charles David James, Guifa Xi and Tadanori Tomita
Cancers 2023, 15(13), 3429; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15133429 - 30 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1230
Abstract
Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) are common malignant brain tumors without effective treatment and poor patient survival. Abnormal posttranslational modification at the histone H3 tail plays critical roles in tumor cell malignancy. We have previously shown that the trimethylation of lysine 4 at histone [...] Read more.
Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) are common malignant brain tumors without effective treatment and poor patient survival. Abnormal posttranslational modification at the histone H3 tail plays critical roles in tumor cell malignancy. We have previously shown that the trimethylation of lysine 4 at histone H3 (H3K4me3) plays a significant role in pediatric ependymoma malignancy and is associated with tumor therapeutic sensitivity. Here, we show that H3K4me3 and its methyltransferase WDR82 are elevated in pHGGs. A reduction in H3K4me3 by downregulating WDR82 decreases H3K4me3 promoter occupancy and the expression of genes associated with stem cell features, cell proliferation, the cell cycle, and DNA damage repair. A reduction in WDR82-mediated H3K4me3 increases the response of pediatric glioma cells to chemotherapy. These findings suggest that WDR82-mediated H3K4me3 is an important determinant of pediatric glioma malignancy and therapeutic response. This highlights the need for a more thorough understanding of the potential of WDR82 as an epigenetic target to increase therapeutic efficacy and improve the prognosis for children with malignant gliomas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Brain Tumors: From Diagnosis to Treatment)
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16 pages, 1791 KiB  
Article
Clinical and Molecular Features in Medulloblastomas Subtypes in Children in a Cohort in Taiwan
by Kuo-Sheng Wu, Shian-Ying Sung, Man-Hsu Huang, Yu-Ling Lin, Che-Chang Chang, Chia-Lang Fang, Tai-Tong Wong, Hsin-Hung Chen and Min-Lan Tsai
Cancers 2022, 14(21), 5419; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14215419 - 03 Nov 2022
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Abstract
Medulloblastoma (MB) was classified into four molecular subgroups: WNT, SHH, group 3, and group 4. In 2017, 12 subtypes within 4 subgroups and 8 subtypes within non-WNT/non-SHH subgroups according to the differences of clinical features and biology were announced. In this study, we [...] Read more.
Medulloblastoma (MB) was classified into four molecular subgroups: WNT, SHH, group 3, and group 4. In 2017, 12 subtypes within 4 subgroups and 8 subtypes within non-WNT/non-SHH subgroups according to the differences of clinical features and biology were announced. In this study, we aimed to identify the heterogeneity of molecular features for discovering subtype specific factors linked to diagnosis and prognosis. We retrieved 70 MBs in children to perform RNA sequencing and a DNA methylation array in Taiwan. Integrated with clinical annotations, we achieved classification of 12 subtypes of pediatric MBs in our cohort series with reference to the other reported series. We analyzed the correlation of cell type enrichment in SHH MBs and found that M2 macrophages were enriched in SHH β, which related to good outcomes of SHH MBs. The high infiltration of M2 macrophages may be an indicator of a favorable prognosis and therapeutic target for SHH MBs. Furthermore, C11orf95-RELA fusion was observed to be associated with recurrence and a poor prognosis. These results will contribute to the establishment of a molecular diagnosis linked to prognostic indicators of relevance and help to promote molecular-based risk stratified treatment for MBs in children. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Brain Tumors: From Diagnosis to Treatment)
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31 pages, 904 KiB  
Systematic Review
Functional Alteration in the Brain Due to Tumour Invasion in Paediatric Patients: A Systematic Review
by Nur Shaheera Aidilla Sahrizan, Hanani Abdul Manan, Hamzaini Abdul Hamid, Jafri Malin Abdullah and Noorazrul Yahya
Cancers 2023, 15(7), 2168; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15072168 - 06 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1648
Abstract
Working memory, language and speech abilities, motor skills, and visual abilities are often impaired in children with brain tumours. This is because tumours can invade the brain’s functional areas and cause alterations to the neuronal networks. However, it is unclear what the mechanism [...] Read more.
Working memory, language and speech abilities, motor skills, and visual abilities are often impaired in children with brain tumours. This is because tumours can invade the brain’s functional areas and cause alterations to the neuronal networks. However, it is unclear what the mechanism of tumour invasion is and how various treatments can cause cognitive impairment. Therefore, this study aims to systematically evaluate the effects of tumour invasion on the cognitive, language, motor, and visual abilities of paediatric patients, as well as discuss the alterations and modifications in neuronal networks and anatomy. The electronic database, PubMed, was used to find relevant studies. The studies were systematically reviewed based on the type and location of brain tumours, cognitive assessment, and pre- and post-operative deficits experienced by patients. Sixteen studies were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria following the guidelines from PRISMA. Most studies agree that tumour invasion in the brain causes cognitive dysfunction and alteration in patients. The effects of a tumour on cognition, language, motor, and visual abilities depend on the type of tumour and its location in the brain. The alteration to the neuronal networks is also dependent on the type and location of the tumour. However, the default mode network (DMN) is the most affected network, regardless of the tumour type and location.Furthermore, our findings suggest that different treatment types can also contribute to patients’ cognitive function to improve or deteriorate. Deficits that persisted or were acquired after surgery could result from surgical manipulation or the progression of the tumour’s growth. Meanwhile, recovery from the deficits indicated that the brain has the ability to recover and reorganise itself. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Brain Tumors: From Diagnosis to Treatment)
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