A global action plan to tackle one of the most common and aggressive forms of childhood brain tumours is gaining rapid momentum after a report outlining key steps attracted high-level international attention this week.
The highly prestigious journal Acta Neuropathologica has just published findings from a ground-breaking gathering of brain tumour oncologists, neurosurgeons and researchers who came together in Western Australia earlier this year in a bid to better treat kids from the most common and highly invasive form of childhood brain tumour, Medulloblastoma (MB).
Over three days, more than 50 experts discussed and debated better ways to tackle the disease that affects 1 in 5 children who have brain tumours.
The global symposium was co-convened by The Kids for Child Health Research's Dr Nick Gottardo and visiting specialist Dr Amar Gajjar, Director of Neuro-Oncology Division, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, USA and Chair of the Brain Tumour Committee of the Children's Oncology Group (COG), the largest international cooperative organisation in the world that treats children with cancer.
Funded by the Telethon Adventurers and supported by The Kids for Child Health Research, Medulloblastoma Down Under 2013 aimed to identify better ways of sharing knowledge about the biology of the disease, improved targeting of drug therapies and the development of new strategies to push past the limits that have already been reached by current day radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
A key outcome from the global symposium focused on international consensus on how Medulloblastoma is classified. The group agreed it should no longer be considered a single-disease but rather a disease with four sub-groups, each with its own distinct molecular make-up.
"This is a major step forward in how we can now tackle MB," according to co-convenor and Head of the Brain Tumour Program at The Kids, Dr Nick Gottardo.
"By having international agreement on the sub groups we can now focus on jointly and more effectively studying their characteristics and developing more targeted treatments and drugs."
"What's most significant is the fact this action plan helps us achieve a much clearer understanding of what makes these tumours tick and if we can understand what makes them tick we can understand what makes them un-tick and then we can kill them. This really is a massive step forward for us in allowing us to better understand the genetics of this disease."
The group will now present their agreement to the upcoming fifth edition of the World Health Organisation's classification of central nervous system tumours.
The global symposium report also outlined agreement on:
- Establishing a central store of laboratory models to provide international researchers with a place to share and test samples and results, easier and more effectively
- The establishment of common eligibility criteria for testing and treating Medulloblastoma, allowing different international oncology groups to jointly develop more effective clinical trials.
- Improved sharing of preliminary high-throughput screening data across discovery labs again enabling faster development of new therapies
Additional plans to improve the ongoing research and treatment will be further discussed at the 2014 meeting of the Medulloblastoma Working Group to be held in St Moritz in Switzerland in January.
In the meantime the Telethon Adventurers, whose Founder and Chairman Rick Parish tragically lost his 4 year old son Elliot to Medulloblastoma in 2011, have put in place a central coordinator to help manage and further develop the global action plan.
Professor Moria Clay will work closely with Dr Nick Gottardo and the rest of the symposium participants to harness their collective knowledge and skills in battling this aggressive childhood disease.
- [VIDEO] Hear more from Dr Nick Gottardo about the Medulloblastoma Down Under 2013 and the significant impact of the global action plan
- View the full report here
- Read more about the Telethon Adventurers
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