Researchers from the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center recently found that levels of a specific protein detected through a patient’s urine can track a tumor’s size and responsiveness to treatment in children with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG). This discovery helps steer the course for more innovative and less invasive treatment options. DIPG affects 150 to 300 children in the United States every year and poses a greater than 98 percent mortality rate within five years of diagnosis. This unsettling statistic is largely due to the clinical challenge DIPG presents.
