In 2009 many brain stem cancers in children are, for
all intents and purposes, a certain death sentence.
This year, for example, approximately 200 children will
be diagnosed with pontine gliomas (a glioma in the pons
of the brain); and this year approximately 200 children
will die from the disease. For pontine gliomas,
the only known effective treatment is radiation, which
tends to extend life by about 6 months. The vast
majority of children diagnosed with this disease will be
dead within 18 months of diagnosis.
The following is some information about pediatric
brain stem cancer:
Aside from accidents, cancer is the leading cause of
death in children, and brain tumors are the largest
cause of cancer-related death in children. In 1997 brain
tumors accounted for 24 percent of cancer-related deaths
among persons up to age 19.
[1]
Every single day nine children in the U.S. are
diagnosed with a brain tumor.
[2]
Brain stem tumors are the most dreaded cancers in
pediatric oncology, owing to their historically poor
prognosis. Brain stem tumors account for about 10 to 15%
of childhood brain tumors. Peak incidence for these
tumors occurs around age 6 to 9 years. The term brain
stem glioma is often used interchangeably with brain
stem tumor.
[3]
Pontine tumors (cancer of the pons) are the most
common variety of childhood brain stem tumor. They also
carry the worst prognosis; in children, the median
survival duration is 9-12 months even with treatment. A
recent study reported a 37% survival rate at 1 year, 20%
at 2 years, and 13% at 3 years, with a median survival
of 10 months. Only 9 of 119 patients in the study were
alive for more than 3 years after diagnosis.
[4]
Pediatric brain stem cancers are rare, yet incredibly
lethal. Treatment of brain stem gliomas has been
frustrating; at this point, new therapies have yielded
little benefit over conventional treatment with
radiation alone. Because they are not common,
research and treatment of these fatal “orphan” diseases
do not attract the kind of financial support provided to
more common cancers.
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