Thursday, September 07, 2006

Stem Cells Improve Child Brain Cancer Outcomes: Researchers call new therapy an advance, but not everyone agrees

Source: HealthDay News
Posted: September 7, 2006

Summary:

Researchers have found that a highly targeted treatment that relies on the patient's own stem cells improves outcomes for children with brain tumors called medulloblastomas. In this new treatment regimen, radiation therapy is tailored to the severity of the disease and is then followed by a shorter course of chemotherapy than used by doctors in the past. The researchers believe the findings could mark a signficant advance in neuro-oncology. However, another expert said even though the findings are comparable to current treatment methods for patients with medulloblastomas, the findings won't change her current practice.

Commentary: Hopefully this new treatment will have positive and successful long-term outcomes for patients with brain tumors and some forms of cancer. However it should be replicated over a diverse patient population and patients should be closely monitored in order to make sure the treatment is truly effective.

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