Precision medicine may help guide treatment of pediatric brain tumors

A group of researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (MA, USA) has conducted the largest clinical study to date of genetic abnormalities in pediatric brain tumors. The study, published recently in Neuro-Oncology, highlighted that testing for genetic irregularities is clinically feasible and that the results could help guide patients’ treatment. Co-senior author Susan Chi (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) commented: “The importance of genomic profiling in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric brain cancers is reflected in the World Health Organization’s recent decision to classify such tumors by the genetic alterations within them, rather than by broad tumor type.” The study analyzed...