Standard treatment for pediatric brainstem tumor patients

Children and adolescents with brainstem tumors have no standardized widely accepted treatment. In our hospital service, in the last 15 years, we treated 87 pediatric patients with brainstem tumors. Of those, 24 patients (28%) had focal tumors of the brainstem, which are usually benign, indolent and permit long-term survival if treated properly. In our department, 79% of these patients survived four years or more after their diagnosis, and most remain in follow-up clinic. In contrast, 63 patients (72%) were diagnosed with diffuse pontine tumors (DIPG). Among those patients, survival 2 years after diagnosis was only 6%, and no patients survived more than 4 years.(excerpt)