Children with brain tumors are waiting longer to start treatment after surgery
Original title: Time to adjuvant treatment for newly diagnosed pediatric brain tumors in the molecular era: a single center retrospective study.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This was a look back at records of real patients at one hospital. It is not a new treatment.
The short version
At one children's hospital, kids waited more days after brain tumor surgery before their next treatment started than kids did years ago.
What was studied. Doctors looked back at records from one children's hospital in Indianapolis. They included 140 patients, age 21 years or younger, who had surgery for a brain tumor. 83 of them were set to get more treatment after surgery. The team compared the years 2007 to 2009 with the years 2023 to 2025.
What they found. In the earlier years, more treatment started 24.5 days after surgery. In the recent years, it started 34.2 days after surgery. The longer wait was tied to newer treatments that need lab tests on the tumor first. It was also tied to more children being sent to other hospitals. The most common reasons for waiting were the final lab report not being ready, families taking time to decide, and problems with a shunt.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: If your child has brain tumor surgery, there may be a wait before the next treatment starts. Part of that wait is for lab tests on the tumor. Those tests help doctors pick the right drug. It can help to ask the care team which step you are waiting on, and who is doing it.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean the wait hurt these children. The study did not test that. It also does not mean the lab testing is bad. That testing is how doctors match a child to a targeted drug. This was a look back at old records at a single hospital, so other hospitals may be different. It is not a new treatment, and it is not a promise of a cure.
Source: PubMed, August 4, 2026 · Read the original
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