Brain Tumors

The past 30 years have seen remarkable improvements in the treatment of childhood cancers. Children diagnosed with leukemia and other diseases once considered death sentences now typically survive at least five years. But brain cancer remains an ominous threat killing nearly 40% of children within five years of diagnosis, and leaving many survivors with permanent cognitive deficits as a result of surgeries and radiation therapies.

If you've ever doubted how quickly your life can be turned upside down, just ask the Bahen family. On Monday, Nov. 14, 2000, the Bahens' 5-year-old daughter Nicole joined her friends for her usual afternoon dance class. By Sunday Nov. 20, Nicole lay in intensive care recovering from surgery, unable to speak, roll over or swallow, nearly paralyzed on her right side. Such is the swift devastation of a pediatric brain tumor.

(Baltimore, MD)-Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors, and also one of the most complicated cancers to treat. Currently, treatment options such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are only marginally beneficial and present significant risks for patients, including loss of physical and cognitive abilities.

BALTIMORE - Physicians at Kennedy Krieger Institute and neuro-imaging experts at the Institute's F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging have developed a new way to see the white matter pathways, or "cables," that carry messages from one part of the brain to another in children with cerebral palsy. Already, the new technique has led to a better understanding of how disorders of the developing brain lead to cerebral palsy - which holds promise for better diagnosis and more effective treatment.