Seventh-year resident Evan Bander, MD, was named winner of the prestigious James Rutka Pediatric Brain Tumor Award by the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors for his abstract “A Positive Impact on Patterns of Relapse in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma after Convection-Enhanced Delivery of Omburtamab.” The winning abstract, based on a study Dr. Bander conducted with Dr. Mark Souweidane, evaluates the outcomes of DIPG patients treated with convection-enhanced delivery (CED) in Dr. Souweidane’s clinical trial.
The study looked at 63 children with DIPG treated between 2010 and 2022, all of whom received conventional external beam radiation (EBRT); 31 received CED of radiolabeled 124-Iodine-Omburtamab following radiation.
Dr. Bander in the OR with Dr. Souweidane
Although the study showed only a trend in improved overall survival, CED treatment was associated with a statistically significant decrease in local progression rates relative to the control group. That prompts consideration for modifying the design of future trials with serial treatments for a wider treatment field or with craniospinal irradiation.
Dr. Bander delivered his abstract at the 2022 CNS annual meeting in San Francisco.