Archive for brain tumor
Pinpointing Karlijn’s seizures: Neurosurgery helps teen get back to her life
Karlijn Kuiper was visiting her home country of the Netherlands a few years ago when the trouble began. At first, her family noticed she would zone out. “She had these strange spells where she would just stare,” remembers her mother, Marieke. At first, it didn’t occur to Karlijn’s family that they could be seizures. Like ... Read More about Pinpointing Karlijn’s seizures: Neurosurgery helps teen get back to her life
Diving into the dark side of ependymoma
Mariella Filbin, MD, PhD, a neuro-oncologist at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, is driven by a desire to find new therapies for some of the hardest-to-treat pediatric brain tumors. At the core of her work is an effort to uncover the events that shape tumor development. Key takeaways:· Aggressive ependymoma tumors are stuck ... Read More about Diving into the dark side of ependymoma
Guidance for assessing treatment response in pediatric brain tumors
Assessing patients’ response to cancer therapy can be challenging, especially in neuro-oncology. Generally, we assess treatment response by a change in tumor size on MRI scan. However, with brain tumors, changes on MRI scan can be difficult to interpret. A decrease in tumor size may indicate treatment is having an effect; however, a drug can ... Read More about Guidance for assessing treatment response in pediatric brain tumors
I never thought this would happen to our son
On June 16, 2019, our 4-year-old son, Evan, fell off a jungle gym at daycare. At first, his daycare provider thought he was fine. He got right up and seemed to recover. She called me and we agreed to watch him to see if there were any changes. A couple hours later, Evan started throwing ... Read More about I never thought this would happen to our son
Gliomatosis cerebri: ‘As long as you keep going, you still have hope’
Anna Arabia, the only child of Kathy and Joe Arabia of North Adams, Massachusetts, was 13 when she was diagnosed with gliomatosis cerebri, a rare, rapidly-growing brain cancer. Unlike other tumors, gliomatosis cerebri does not form into lumps; instead it is threadlike, invading multiple lobes of the brain, making it impossible to remove surgically. Anna ... Read More about Gliomatosis cerebri: ‘As long as you keep going, you still have hope’
Going into science: Women scientists at Boston Children’s offer advice to girls
In honor of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11), we invited women scientists at all stages of their careers at Boston Children’s Hospital to share their scientific agendas. Here is some of what they had to say. The scientists also offered their advice for girls interested in entering the field. ... Read More about Going into science: Women scientists at Boston Children’s offer advice to girls
New insights on medulloblastoma from single-cell sequencing
Medulloblastoma, a malignant tumor in the cerebellum, is one of the most common malignant brain cancers in children. Survival rates range from 20 to 90 percent, depending on the genetic subtype. There are at least four: WNT and Sonic Hedgehog (named for the signaling pathways that drive them), Group 3, and Group 4. Group 3 ... Read More about New insights on medulloblastoma from single-cell sequencing
Single-cell sequencing reveals glioblastoma’s shape-shifting nature
Glioblastoma, a cancer that arises in the brain’s supporting glial cells, is one of the worst diagnoses a child can receive. The grade IV, highly malignant tumor aggressively infiltrates healthy brain tissue, and most children die of the disease within one to two years of diagnosis, similar to adults. “The current approach is surgical removal, ... Read More about Single-cell sequencing reveals glioblastoma’s shape-shifting nature
Overriding resistance to epigenetic inhibitors in neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma and other children’s cancers pose unique challenges. They’re not caused by the same kinds of genetic mutations that cause adult cancers, and only a minority of their mutations can be targeted with drugs. In a recent study, a team led by Kimberly Stegmaier, MD, at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center systematically deleted every gene ... Read More about Overriding resistance to epigenetic inhibitors in neuroblastoma
How I was inspired to become a nurse
On October 17, 2011, I woke up with a headache so severe I could not go to school. Even at age 13, I knew this type of pain was not normal, even though I had been having headaches for more than a year. Before I knew it, I was being rushed by ambulance to Boston ... Read More about How I was inspired to become a nurse