The DIPG/DMG Center Zurich is focusing on developing and implementing improved therapies for children diagnosed with DIPG/DMGs.
The DIPG/DMG Center Zurich is focusing on developing and implementing improved therapies for children diagnosed with DIPG/DMGs. The Program consists of a clinical and a translational research entity which reside within the Division of Oncology, University Children’s Hospital of Zurich, a non-profit hospital supported by the Eleonore Foundation. The DIPG/DMG Center in Zurich is a joint effort with the University of San Francisco, California (UCSF) allowing patients to receive the most up to date information.
Our mission is to develop and establish improved therapeutic measures to reach prolongation of the overall survival times.
It is recognized worldwide that over 1000 children die every year following being diagnosed with a specific brain cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG)/Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG). These tumors arise in the midline structures of the brain such as the thalamus, pons as well as spinal cord.
Over the last 50 years, clinical trials have not resulted in improved outcome for children diagnosed with DMGs. Radiotherapy -the only standard of care- often results in a transient tumor response but does not significantly impact the long-term outcome. The mean overall survival for diagnosed children with DMGs is about 9-12 months. However, in recent years, due to analyses of postmortem DIPG tumor specimens as well more and more upfront tissue sampling, our understanding of the biology of these tumors has significantly improved and it is now clear that DMGs including DIPGs are a heterogeneous group of tumors requiring a personalized therapy approach. Given the heterogeneity on a molecular level of these tumors, a “One size fits all” approach will not improve the outcome for these children.
Within our research center we evaluate and investigate new therapeutic options that can be transferred to the clinic.
We are focusing on the following topics:
DIPG/DMG Center lead
Clinical team
Translational team
We offer a detailed review of the medical history and images by an international team of experts specialized in the care of DIPG/DMGs. This will allow us to provide you with the best current treatment recommendations for your child. We will then schedule a video consultation with you and your family to discuss our recommendations. This could include:
Second opinions:
We are offering second opinions after detailed review of medical records, existing molecular data and images. Each patient will be discussed in the trans-Atlantic DIPG/DMG dedicated tumorboard with experts of the University Children’s Hospital Zurich and UCSF. This procedure allows to provide a recommendation for further steps in the medical care based on a broad expert opinion. We can offer second opinions either through in person visits or via telemedicine (video conferencing) in English, French or German, but when needed, we will be happy to set up a phone call with an interpreter.
Biopsies for molecular analysis of the tumor:
We perform surgical biopsies of these diffuse midline gliomas / diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas routinely at the DIPG/DMG Center Zurich. The biopsy is performed using a robot-assisted platform. This will only require a short term stay for the child in the hospital. On the tumor tissue, we perform molecular profiling to get a deeper understanding of the tumor subtype and if feasible real-time drug testing. Results of these evolving tests will be used to develop a personalized therapy approach whenever feasible.
Drug Screen for precision medicine:
Each tumor, like each individual, is unique in its molecular profile. While there are some characteristic patterns in diffuse midline glioma and diffuse intrinsic brainstem glioma, ultimately small differences in cell signaling pathways can make a big difference in terms of drug efficacy. To help us choose the most promising therapeutic approach for your child in the clinic , we can pre-test how tumor cells respond to different drugs in our research laboratory. This process can help to select drugs which fit more precisely to the individual profile.
Clinical trials:
At the DIPG/DMG Center Zurich we are actively working on developing and implementing effective and novel clinical trials for patients diagnosed with DIPG and DMG. We are offering clinical trial enrollment but also work with several companies for compassionate use strategies if trial enrollment is not an option.
We are member of the Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium. Please see all PNOC open trials here: www.pnoc.us
At the DIPG/DMG Center in Zurich we offer enrollment into the following trials.
Supporters of the DIPG/DMG Center Zurich
DIPG/DMG Center Partners
If you like to support the DIPG/DMG Center of Zurich please contact glioma@kispi.uzh.ch for details. Funds will be used to support clinical studies as well as translational approaches.
DMG-ACT: Diffuse Midline Glioma-Adaptive Combinatory Trial. Leading the DMG Center in Zurich, Dr. Mueller and Dr. Nazarian developed the first PNOC working group for DMG and established the DMG-ACT program.
DMG-ACT is a biology driven trial platform conducted through PNOC Global. The working hypothesis of DMG-ACT is that a progressive clinical trial platform that is both adaptive to new data from the laboratory, as well as ongoing correlative studies focused on combinatorial therapies, will allow for more rapid progress in the clinical care of children and families suffering from DMG compared to traditional approaches. Thus, our goal is to test combination treatment approaches in a variety of DMG model systems and multiple laboratories around the world and by leveraging complementary expertise.
DMG-ACT program: