Pediatric diencephalic tumors: a constellation of entities and management modalities

Soniya N Pinto; Jason Chiang; Ibrahim Qaddoumi; David Livingston; Asim Bag

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1180267

Pediatric diencephalic tumors: a constellation of entities and management modalities

Front Oncol. 2023 Jul 13:13:1180267. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1180267. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Soniya N Pinto¹, Jason Chiang², Ibrahim Qaddoumi³, David Livingston⁴, Asim Bag¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Diagnostic Imaging, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States.
² Department of Pathology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States.
³ Departments of Global Pediatric Medicine, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States.
⁴ Department of Radiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States.

Abstract

The diencephalon is a complex midline structure consisting of the hypothalamus, neurohypophysis, subthalamus, thalamus, epithalamus, and pineal body. Tumors arising from each of these diencephalic components differ significantly in terms of biology and prognosis. The aim of this comprehensive review is to describe the epidemiology, clinical symptoms, imaging, histology, and molecular markers in the context of the 2021 WHO classification of central nervous system neoplasms. We will also discuss the current management of each of these tumors.

Keywords: adenoma; craniopharyngioma; diencephalon; germ cell tumor; langerhans cell histiocytosis; pineoblastoma.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

JC receives support from the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCI grant P30CA021765), NCI Program Project P01CA096832. AB received supports from FDA grant (FD006368-01A1). This project was also supported, in part, by American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.