Mark Souweidane, MD, Vice Chairman of the Brain and Spine Center and the director of pediatric neurosurgery, and Zhiping Zhou, PhD, who manages Dr. Souweidane's pediatric neuro-oncology lab, have contributed a chapter to the new book, Clinical Management and Evolving Novel Therapeutic Strategies for Patients with Brain Tumors. The book was published by InTech, an open-access publisher of health, medicine, and science books; Dr. Souweidane’s chapter, entitled "Brainstem Gliomas," is available online.
The new book, edited by Terry Lichtor, covers recent findings regarding the molecular biology of brain tumors, as well as the novel therapeutic strategies that have been developed as a result of those findings. The book also reviews the advances in radiology that improve diagnosis and surgical planning, developments in chemotherapy, and photodynamic therapy.
Dr. Souweidane and Dr. Zhou collaborated on the chapter on brainstem gliomas, which focuses on DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma). DIPG accounts for approximately 80 percent of brainstem gliomas in children, and is uniformly fatal. Surgical resection is not possible, and the only treatment is radiation therapy. Children with DIPG have a median survival of 10 to 12 months. The smaller percentage of brainstem gliomas that are not diffuse have better prognoses and can often be surgically removed.
Although DIPG has not been well understood or well researched (mostly because it is so rare), there have been some recent studies that are advancing the science, including Dr. Souweidane’s own clinical trial, which is currently recruiting and treating patients with convection-enhanced delivery (CED) of a therapeutic agent. (Find out more about the clinical trial for DIPG.)
In keeping with InTech’s mission of open access, the new book is available free online. Read the chapter by Dr. Souweidane and Dr. Zhou here.
