Margaret Shatara, MD, a pediatric neuro-oncologist with Children’s Minnesota, was recently awarded a $100,000 grant to support research on Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT). The research will study the launch of PNOC042, a multi-institutional Phase II clinical trial evaluating LITT for patients ages 2 to 25 with recurrent or progressive low-grade gliomas, a type of brain tumor that starts in the brain and spinal cord cells. Children’s Minnesota is the lead institution for the study through the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC), with Dr. Shatara as primary investigator.
“This grant provides the infrastructure needed to launch and conduct a clinical trial studying LITT, a minimally invasive, MRI-guided laser procedure that may offer an effective alternative for patients with low-grade glioma tumors that are difficult or unsafe to remove surgically,” said Dr. Shatara. “The grant helps address a major unmet need for children with low-grade gliomas who face repeated treatments, long-term chemotherapy, or tumors located in highly sensitive areas of the brain.”
Humor to Fight the Tumor, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to funding brain tumor research and patient services, awarded the grant.
