title: Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma: New Pathophysiological Insights and Emerging Therapeutic Targets.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is the leading cause of brain tumor-related death in children, with median survival of less than one year. Despite decades of clinical trials, there has been no improvement in prognosis since the introduction of radiotherapy over thirty years ago.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To review the clinical features and current treatment challenges of DIPG, and discuss emerging insights into the unique genomic and epigenomic mechanisms driving DIPG pathogenesis that present new opportunities for the identification of therapeutic targets.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In recent years, an increased availability of biopsy and rapid autopsy tissue samples for preclinical investigation has combined with the advent of new genomic and epigenomic profiling tools to yield remarkable advancements in our understanding of DIPG disease mechanisms. As well, a deeper understanding of the developmental context of DIPG is shedding light on therapeutic targets in the microenvironment of the childhood brain.
authors.forename: Tessa B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Johung
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, Pediatrics, Pathology, and Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, 265 Campus Drive, Room G3077, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monje
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020295:Brain Stem Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000379:methods; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / Q000502:physiology; D005910:Glioma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006657:Histones / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D006657:Histones