High-grade gliomas are aggressive brain and spinal cord tumors that can affect children of all ages. These fast-growing childhood cancers spread quickly through brain tissue, making them exceptionally hard to treat.
What Are High-Grade Gliomas?
High-grade gliomas are classified based on their location and how they appear under a microscope. This classification helps doctors predict outcomes, but unfortunately, the overall prognosis for high-grade glioma in children remains poor.
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Signs and Symptoms of High-Grade Gliomas
The symptoms of high-grade glioma depend on the tumor’s location in the brain or spinal cord. Common symptoms include:
- Persistent headaches
- Nausea and vomiting
- New or unexplained seizures
How Are High-Grade Gliomas Treated?
Treating high-grade gliomas requires a team of healthcare professionals and a combination of therapies.
- Surgery: Tumor removal is the primary goal, but some tumors, like diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG), cannot be surgically removed due to their location.
- Radiation Therapy: Most patients receive radiation therapy to target tumor cells.
- Chemotherapy: Used alongside other treatments, chemotherapy helps slow tumor growth.
Unfortunately, current treatments for high-grade gliomas in children may prolong life but rarely lead to long-term survival. That’s why research into the genetics and biology of these tumors is critical to developing new and effective therapies.
How St. Baldrick’s Scholars Are Advancing Research
Dr. Lionel Chow, a St. Baldrick’s Scholar, is working to understand high-grade gliomas at a deeper level. Using advanced laboratory models, Dr. Chow studies how these tumors grow and designs new treatments to test in clinical trials. Because of his research, his goal is to bring better therapies from the lab to children fighting these cancers.
Dr. Chow shares, “Our understanding of these tumors is limited, which is why patient outcomes remain poor. My work focuses on studying their biology and testing new ways to treat high-grade glioma. With support from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, I can dedicate my time to this critical research.”
Dr. Lionel Chow, St. Baldrick’s Foundation
How You Can Help Fight Childhood Cancer
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation Scholar grant supports young researchers like Dr. Chow by allowing them to focus on groundbreaking research instead of juggling clinical care and grant writing. This funding is essential to launch new labs and test innovative ideas that could save lives.
Do you know a child affected by cancer? St. Baldrick’s Honored Kids inspire others to join the mission to fund lifesaving childhood cancer research. Learn more about how you can help:
Get Involved and Make a Difference
By supporting St. Baldrick’s, you’re giving hope to kids battling high-grade gliomas and other childhood cancers. Together, we can fund the research needed to improve treatments and save lives.
Help kids with cancer grow up and live long, healthy lives.
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Learn about one of our recent Research Outcomes dealing with High-Grade Glioma:
Innovative Therapies for Pediatric Gliomas: Preclinical Breakthroughs and Clinical Trial Advances
