Dismal prognosis of brain stem glioma confirmed by new systematic review

Posted on 5 July 2017

Knowing more about the outcome of a condition, and what features may change that outcome, can be important for those affected. It also enables the identification of clues for developing new therapies. Dr Hadeel Hassan, a children's doctor and previous NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in HYMS and CRD, undertook a systematic review to examine the outcome for children with an aggressive type of brain tumour - brainstem glioma.

Her work has been published in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology (05/07/2017):

Hassan H, Pinches A, Picton SV, Phillips RS. Survival rates and prognostic predictors of high grade brain stem gliomas in childhood: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Neurooncol 2017 doi:10.1007/s11060-017-2546-1

The review confirmed that those affected by this tumour are very unlikely to survive, and that this has not changed over the past 30 years despite many attempts. Such information underpins new studies ongoing in the UK, such as the international BIOMEDE study.

Further information about cancers in children can be found at the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group and CLIC Sargent.