CRUK-UCL and Cancer Domain Multidisciplinary Seminar Series

The successful clinical management of paediatric brain tumour patients requires both an accurate initial diagnosis, as well as non-invasive methodologies for planning and monitoring a patient’s treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an essential role in this. However, paediatric brain tumours encompass a broad biological spectrum, and although conventional MRI sequences are well suited to identifying the presence of a tumour, they often fail to provide sufficient sensitivity and specificity regarding its underlying biology. In this talk, we will discuss how advanced MRI techniques can reveal more about the biology of paediatric brain tumours in vivo.

Dr Hales will show how perfusion- and diffusion-weighted imaging can be used to explore the vascular and cellular structure of a tumour, and how this can help to guide biopsies and diagnosis at an early stage in clinical management. Prof Clark will explain how tractography can be used to help plan the subsequent surgical resection of a brain tumour, ensuring a maximal resection whilst preserving surrounding eloquent white matter structures in the brain.