Pediatric Brain Tumor Program

Cutting-edge treatments paired with personalized care

We use the latest tests to figure out the exact type, size and location of your child’s tumor. Then we create a custom treatment plan tailored to their exact needs. Our approaches for diagnosis and therapy include:

• Next-generation sequencing: For kids with high-risk tumors, we can use a tool called next-generation sequencing to study a tumor’s DNA. This helps us know which treatments will have the best chances of eliminating it.

• Chemotherapy: This type of medicine shrinks and kills tumors. Children’s Health is home to a team that specializes in using chemotherapy to treat brain tumors in kids. They’ve helped many kids like yours beat cancer, and they work to make sure treatments have as few side effects as possible.

• Radiation: This type of therapy uses high-energy rays to target brain tumors. We have access to every type of radiation available and will pick the most effective treatment plan for your child. This includes proton therapy, a type of radiation therapy that can target tumors more precisely than typical radiation. We also use stereotactic radiosurgery, a technique where we can precisely target tumors with high doses of radiation in fewer treatments.

• Surgery: Our team of expert neurosurgeons is highly specialized in surgically removing brain tumors. They use the most advanced imaging tools to find out exactly where the tumor is and plan the surgery in detail. This helps them ensure they can remove the entire tumor without harming the healthy tissue around it.

Expert pediatric brain tumor team

Our affiliation with UT Southwestern means patients and families have access to some of the world’s top pediatric cancer doctors.

We have a team of specialized experts who work together to create a personalized care plan for each child. First, they look at all aspects of a child’s health – including their age, where the tumor is and how fast it's growing. Then, they work together to create the most effective treatment plan with the fewest side effects.

Advanced research on pediatric brain tumor treatments

Working with UT Southwestern, we conduct world-leading research and participate in innovative clinical trials. We are developing new treatments and approaches to help kids with brain cancer.

Currently, our team offers clinical trials for many new diagnosed or relapsed patients including trials from pediatric consortia and industry sponsored trials.  For instance, children with diffuse midline gliomas, a difficult malignant tumor with limited therapy options, currently have access to a novel therapy, ONC201 (NCT05580562). Children with newly diagnosed low grade gliomas maybe eligible for a number of targeted therapies which aim to improve tumor response and minimize long term toxicity (NCT05566795, NCT03871257, NCT04166409).

Members of our team are also part of several pediatric clinical trial consortia, including the Children’s Oncology Group, the Neurofibromatosis Clinical Trial Consortium, the Sunshine Project and the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network, bringing our patients access to many therapies before they’re widely available.

Compassionate care throughout childhood

When your child receives brain tumor care at Children’s Health, we’ll continue to support them for as long as they need our help. This includes follow-up screens after treatment and long-term monitoring to address health problems that can happen because of cancer treatment. We also offer psychosocial support to help kids with emotional challenges they may face after cancer, such as anxiety and depression.

At Children's Health℠, we use the most advanced tools and treatments to give kids the best opportunity to overcome brain tumors. Our physicians are also faculty members at UT Southwestern Medical School, and these experts work together to create a custom treatment plan for each child. This includes sequencing a tumor’s DNA to find the best way to treat it, working with the most advanced chemotherapy drugs, and using highly precise radiation therapy to stop tumors from growing. We aim to use the most effective, least harmful treatments to help kids have happier, healthier futures.

Our team treats all types of tumors, both benign and malignant, found in the brain and spine cord, which includes but is not limited to the conditions listed below.