Most pediatric low-grade brain tumors harbor a specific change in their DNA that promotes tumor growth. This DNA change creates a fusion between two genes, the first is a gene (called BRAF) that is already known to promote tumor growth, and the second is a poorly characterized gene. Drugs have been developed which block this fusion gene, but these drugs still have several challenges when they are used to treat patients. The first problem is that many patients are initially resistant to the drugs, which necessitates devising alternative treatment strategies.
