Lower Radiation Levels for Children with Brain Tumors

New treatment for children with brain tumors that uses lower levels of radiation and more chemotherapy than conventional treatment results in the same survival rates as much higher radiation doses and in less neurologic damage. A trial will now test even lower levels of radiation in the hope of eliminating damage altogether while killing tumors.

Earlier treatment for medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children, called for more than 3,600 rads (units of radiation). Although this treatment alone was often successful in eradicating tumors, most patients suffered severe neurologic impairment. Today, children are treated with a dose of 2,380 rads, several rounds of chemotherapy, and have equivalent survival rates. However, some children still experience impairments. The damage suffered by children is more severe than that seen in adults because the children's brains are still developing.

Now, doctors at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, associated with Stanford University (CA, USA), are experimenting with even lower doses of radiation. A phase II trial is designed to test whether 1,800 rads, combined with one extra round of chemotherapy, will be enough to kill tumors without damage to the surrounding brain tissue. Fifty children are to be enrolled in the trial.

"The reason we're so excited is that children with leukemia who received this dose of radiation to their heads and spines to prevent metastases show that they maintain close to normal neurologic function,” said Paul Fisher, M.D., assistant professor of neurology, pediatrics, and neurosurgery at Stanford and principal investigator.




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