No progress has been made in improving the outcome of children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma in more than 30 years. For other types of pediatric malignant glioma, modest improvements in outcome have been observed; these are primarily due to neurosurgical techniques. Chemotherapeutic agents have not demonstrated significant activity in dipg and have only modest activity in supratentorial malignant gliomas. Children with low grade gliomas have high survival rates, but are faced with a number of lifelong medical, neurocognitive and psychologic issues as a result of therapy. We are studying the biology of pediatric gliomas in an effort to better identify molecular targets, improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of this disease, and improve outcome (survival and quality of life) for children.
