24 Apr FDA Drug Approval Marks a New Day for Treating Pediatric Brain Cancer

By Frank Vinluan, MedCityNews

One quirk of the most common type of pediatric brain cancer is that as a child gets older, the tumors eventually stop growing. The reasons for this tumor senescence aren’t fully understood, but pediatric low grade glioma, or pLGG, still wreaks plenty of havoc until then, says Sam Blackman, a pediatric oncologist and the co-founder and head of R&D for Day One Biopharmaceuticals.

“Whether it’s the tumor pressing on an optic nerve creating blindness, damage to the hypothalamus or pituitary gland causing profound endocrine disorders, or pressure on motor structures in the brain causing hemiparesis or loss of balance, pLGG is a thief, robbing children of the best parts of their childhood,” Blackman said during a conference call Wednesday. Read more…