New review calls for age-specific immunotherapy in childhood brain tumors

AUSTIN, Texas —  Pediatric brain tumors are the deadliest form of childhood cancer, yet most treatments are adapted from adult care and often miss the mark. A new study led by a second-year medical student at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin outlines why kids’ brain tumors are uniquely hard to treat and where the next generation of therapies is heading.

Published in Neuro-Oncology Advances, the review highlights how pediatric gliomas create a “cold” tumor environment that helps them hide from the immune system. This makes many standard immunotherapies ineffective.

The authors point to new strategies for children, including engineered immune cells, cancer vaccines and virus-based therapies. They also highlight work in the Kumar Lab, led by Kevin K. Kumar, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Dell Med. The lab studies how the brain’s own immune cells shape tumor growth. One emerging approach, microglial replacement therapy, aims to re-engineer these cells so the immune system can better recognize and fight tumors.

“Children’s brain tumors are not just smaller versions of adult cancers — they behave in fundamentally different ways,” said Cheyenne Ahamed, lead author and Dell Med student. “By understanding those differences, we can design treatments that are safer, smarter, and ultimately more effective for kids.”

The study highlights the need to design immunotherapies with the unique biology of childhood brain tumors in mind, a step that could lead to more effective treatments.