The goals of the Brain Tumor Center at Duke are to foster interaction among a group of basic, translational, and clinical scientists to improve diagnosis and treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors in adults and children and to train new basic, translational, and clinical investigators to work in Neuro-Oncology. The Brain Tumor Center at Duke (also called the Neuro-Oncology Program) is one of the oldest organ-site cancer programs at Duke and it predates the Cancer Center by a generation. The clinical and basic investigation in neuro- oncology at Duke began in 1937 under the leadership of the late Barnes Woodhall, M.D., first Professor of Neurosurgery at Duke and the second Chancellor of the Medical Center. Subsequent leaders of the Program were Guy L. Odom, M.D., James B. Duke Professor of Neurosurgery, and the late M. Stephen Mahaley, Jr., M.D. Dr. Darell Bigner has led the Program since its formal status as a Cancer Center Program was established more than 15 years ago when Core Grants initiated program status. The Neuro- Oncology Program is composed of 21 senior faculty who hold 23 peer-reviewed grants relative to neuro-oncology from the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke. The most significant progress in the ability to conduct clinical trials in adult and pediatric brain tumor patients at Duke was administrative reorganization of Clinical Neuro-Oncology to effectively merge surgical and medical care of both pediatric and adult patients. This important reorganization was envisioned and successfully negotiated with Duke Hospital, the relevant Department Chairs, and the Chancellor by the new Director of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, O. Michael Colvin, M.D. First, in 1996, a Division of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology was created with Dr. Henry S Friedman as Chief with two additional pediatric neuro-oncology faculty. Dr. Friedman was then given appointments in both the Departments of Medicine and Surgery, and he and Dr. Allan Friedman, Chief of Neurosurgery, were made Co-Directors of Clinical Neuro-Oncology at Duke. The offices, data management staff, physician extenders, and medical and pediatric faculty staff were physically consolidated. With this new administrative structure 450 new adult patients, and 100 new pediatric patients were seen in 1997. There were 400 craniotomies for brain tumor performed in 1997, and approximately 600 adults and 400 children with primary brain tumors are being followed in 1998.
The specific aims of this proposal are to 1) design innovative clinical trials for children with brain tumors based on in vitro and preclinical in vivo laboratory studies and 2) to conduct these trials with appropriate patient accrual, data management and monitoring.
