Each year, close to 5,000 children are diagnosed with brain tumors, which are the leading cause of pediatric cancer-related death.

Last month, the Trump administration announced it would stop supporting a federally funded network dedicated to researching these deadly cancers.

Starting in March, 26, the pediatric brain tumor consortium will no longer receive funds from the National Cancer Institute,

which is the federal government's principal agency for cancer research.

To discuss the implications of this, I'm joined by Misha Meta. She is the president of the Neve Colte and Brave Roneal Foundation,

which she founded in honor of her late son,

who was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor in 2020, and Dr. Paul Graham Fisher, a professor

of neurology and pediatrics at Stanford University and co-investigator in the PBTC.

Thank you both so much for joining us.

First to you, Paul, what makes pediatric brain tumors unique and challenging

and why are these clinical networks important? They're challenging in that these are tumors not

only in little kids that are tumors of childhood, but the brain is obviously a very tricky

part where sometimes surgery is very challenging.

And then the effects of the therapies, radiation, drugs, other therapies, they have profound implications on who the child is.

So that's one aspect.

The other aspect you highlighted that brain tumors and children are really the hardest or most difficult to cure in childhood,

and we just don't have effective therapies.

That's why having investigational groups, a consortium, is just so darn important.

And, Paul, there's a lot that we don't know about the future of this research,

but one thing we do know is that the network

has paused enrollment in its ongoing clinical trials. What does that mean for families

who are waiting to get their kids into these trials? It means a lot of things for families.

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