V. Brain tumor (HGG)

The CANSEARCH research platform is deeply committed to identifying under-researched areas. Due to their rarity, pediatric cancers fall into this category, particularly pediatric high-grade glioma (HGG). This condition is extremely rare in young children under 3 to 5 years of age, justifying the creation of an international registry for infant HGG to track cases. The project aims to systematically collect epidemiological, clinical, and molecular data on young children with HGG to significantly improve knowledge of HGG in infants.

To build on our preliminary findings, we conducted a retrospective study of available patient data for infant-type hemispheric glioma. Our study, titled "Individual patient data meta-analysis of infant-type hemispheric gliomas (IHG)," examined the characteristics of infant-type hemispheric gliomas (IHG), a specific form of pediatric brain tumor defined by distinct genetic alterations. We analyzed data from 164 patients with IHG—the largest study of this disease to date—and found that despite generally favorable survival rates, these patients often experience early disease progression, highlighting the need to define an optimal treatment strategy. Complete surgical resection appears to play a crucial role in initial treatment. Further evaluation of salvage therapy options is still required to understand their impact on overall survival.

One limitation of retrospective data is that it is often incomplete, which makes interpretation difficult and underscores the need for an international registry to collect patient data. We are currently building a well-documented registry to enable more informed conclusions.

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