Paris 1st Course on Pediatric CNS Tumors

Session 1: embryonic tumors, craniopharyngioma, and germ cell tumors

REAL-TIME ONLINE COURSE (Paris Time = CEST).

Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors are the second most common cancers in children after leukemia.

CNS tumors in children, adolescents and young adults are a very heterogeneous group of rare tumors. They are classified in embryonic tumors (medulloblastomas, ATRT, other embryonic tumors), high-grade or low-grade glial tumors, ependymomas, craniopharyngiomas, intracranial malignant germ cell tumors, as well as other rarer tumor types.

Their diagnosis is complex and requires a multidisciplinary approach involving highly specialized neuroimaging and neuropathology/biology.

Over the past 20 years, and more particularly over the last 5 years, the advances in high-throughput molecular biology have allowed supplementing the histological classification with a molecular classification of the tumors. Molecular alterations - sometimes extremely specific- observed in these tumors include activation of signaling pathways, gene fusions or point mutations, and constitute very robust markers reinforcing the histological analysis.

These genetic alterations are often causative of the disease. Their functional study is essential to understand the mechanisms of tumor initiation and progression, and the development of relevant animal models is fundamental for the generation of new treatments.

There are several therapeutic issues:

- Regarding survival, CNS tumors have become the leading cause of death from cancer in children and a major cause of death in adolescents and young adults

- Regarding quality of life upon survival, the risk of sequelae linked to the disease and to its related treatments is maximal due to the damage affecting the developing nervous system.

Registration is Closed