Experts from all continents met in Singapore (Saturday 28-Jun-14 to Wednesday 2-Jul-14), to discuss advances in clinical aspects of pediatric oncology and report the latest research findings relevant to the field.
Encouraging data were presented by the group from Milan. The showed that re-irradiation of patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) at progression after first line treatment with nimotuzumab, vinorelbine and standard radiotherapy appears to be efficient. Eleven of 12 patients with local relapse were re-irradiated, although representing a specific patient selection, and their survival was better than patients (n=5) with local relapse who were not treated by re-radiation.
Mark Kieran (Boston) reported on a clinical trial, http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01182350, with the aim to estimate the overall survival of children and young adults with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) treated with a molecularly based treatment strategy, compared to historical controls. Based on the molecular characteristics of the tumor, patients are currently treated within this trial by bevacizumab+ irradiation +/- erlotinib (if EGFR over-expressed) +/- temozolomide (if MGMT promoter methylation positive).
During the DIPG symposium the DIPG registries (US, Canadian, European, and Australian) were presented. This will build the basis for future collaborations.
