Pediatric neuro-oncology: Highlights of the last quarter-century

Phoebe Power; Joelle P Straehla; Jason Fangusaro; Pratiti Bandopadhayay; Neevika Manoharan

doi:10.1016/j.neo.2024.101098

Pediatric neuro-oncology: Highlights of the last quarter-century

Neoplasia. 2025 Jan:59:101098. doi: 10.1016/j.neo.2024.101098. Epub 2024 Dec 4.

Authors

Phoebe Power¹, Joelle P Straehla², Jason Fangusaro³, Pratiti Bandopadhayay⁴, Neevika Manoharan⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber/ Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA.
² Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Seattle Children's Hospital, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
³ Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Aflac Cancer Center, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber/ Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
⁵ Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia; Children's Cancer Institute, Lowy Cancer Centre, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, NSW, Australia; School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Medicine & Health, UNSW Sydney, Kensington, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: neevika.manoharan@health.nsw.gov.au.

Abstract

The last quarter century has heralded dramatic changes in the field of pediatric neuro-oncology, with the era defined by profound developments in the understanding of the biological underpinnings of childhood central nervous system (CNS) tumors and translational therapeutics. Although there have been momentous strides forward in biologic, diagnostic, therapeutic, and experimental domains, considerable challenges remain and CNS tumors remain the leading cause of pediatric cancer-related mortality. Here, we review the significant advances in the field of pediatric neuro-oncology over the last 25 years and highlight ongoing hurdles facing future progress.

Keywords: DMG; Immunotherapy; Medulloblastoma; Pediatric neuro-oncology; Targeted therapy; pLGG.

Publication types

Review
Historical Article

MeSH terms

Central Nervous System Neoplasms* / etiology
Central Nervous System Neoplasms* / therapy
Child
Disease Management
History, 20th Century
History, 21st Century
Humans
Medical Oncology* / history
Medical Oncology* / methods
Pediatrics