Palliative Care Options for a Young Adult Patient with a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma

Authors

Julian Sison, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Hung Tran, Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.
Ashley Margol, Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.
Nishant Tiwari, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.Follow
Karla M. Garcia, Clinical Social Work, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.
Jennifer Cotter, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Ca.
Erin Kiehna, Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Ca.
Arthur J. Olch, Department of Radiation Oncology, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
Kenneth Wong, Department of Radiation Oncology, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs) are rare but devastating brain tumors that occur primarily in children. These gliomas have poor prognoses and present options focus on palliation of symptoms and prolongation of life. Here, we present a case of a 16-year-old female diagnosed with a DIPG whose age group has been mostly left out of discussions regarding psychosocial support options. This report is meant to start a conversation about the different support options available at our institution that have shown promising results in the literature for palliative care applications. These options can include camps for patients with brain tumors, psychological counseling, the Ronald McDonald House, and other psychosocial programs. Many of these programs can be tailored to meet the specific needs of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients and will hopefully be integrated into a comprehensive palliative care regimen in future studies.

Publication Date

8-18-2017

Publication Title

Cureus

ISSN

2168-8184

Volume

9

Issue

8

First Page

e1580

PubMed ID

29057192

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.7759/cureus.1580

Recommended Citation

Sison, Julian; Tran, Hung; Margol, Ashley; Tiwari, Nishant; Garcia, Karla M.; Cotter, Jennifer; Kiehna, Erin; Olch, Arthur J.; and Wong, Kenneth, "Palliative Care Options for a Young Adult Patient with a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma" (2017). Neuropathology. 11.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neuropathology/11