Dr. Upadhyaya on Radiation Therapy for Young Children with Ependymoma

Santhosh Upadhyaya, MD, neuro-oncologist, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, discusses radiation therapy for young children under the age of 3 who have ependymoma. He highlighted outcomes of the 10-year-long SJYC07 trial at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting.

The trial, which began in 2007, tested children 3 years of age and younger who had molecularly defined ependymoma and other malignant brain tumors. Upadhyaya says that some of the main goals of the study were reached. The most important finding was that children younger than 3 generally responded well to radiation treatment.

Another focus of the trial was if differing radiation strategies could be used while a young child’s brain is maturing. A subgroup of patients under the age of 1 was treated with surgery and chemotherapy as a bridge before radiation started at 1 year old.

Upadhyaya says that the results are exciting and show that children can be safely treated with radiation to improve outcomes.