Investigators from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Target Brain Cancer (Imaging Mediation Analysis for Longitudinal Outcomes: a Case Study of Childhood Brain Tumor Survivorship).

A recent study conducted by investigators from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee focused on the cognitive outcomes of pediatric brain tumor survivors. The researchers developed a new mediation model to analyze the impact of radiation therapy on neurodevelopment in survivors of medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children. By using neuroimaging data and longitudinal neurocognitive outcomes, the study identified causal pathways and white matter microstructures that mediate the negative effects of irradiation on neurodevelopment. The results of the study provide guidance for improving long-term neurodevelopment and sparing brain regions in pediatric cancer survivors. [Extracted from the article]