Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas

Abstract

Brain stem tumors account for 10-15% of all primary childhood CNS tumors. Most of the brain tumors arising in the brain stem are gliomas. With recent advances in neuro-imaging, particularly the advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and careful correlation of clinical presentation, location, and growth pattern, it has become evident that brain stem tumors are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms, divisible into distinct subgroups, such as diffuse intrinsic pontine tumors and focal, dorsal exophytic, cervicomedullary tumors. Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG) constitute 80% of the pediatric brain stem tumors. These tumors are typically highgrade gliomas and have uniformly poor prognosis. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.