Strategies in the treatment of diffuse pontine gliomas: the therapeutic role of hyperfractionated radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

This article will review the current treatment of pediatric patients with diffuse pontine gliomas (DPG) and discuss three potential avenues of therapeutic research including (i) radiotherapy (RT) in combination with radiation sensitizers, (ii) dose-intensive, induction chemotherapy with hematopoietic support followed in sequence with RT applied as a "consolidation' therapy, and (iii) the interleafed application of phase-specific chemotherapeutic agents and hyperfractionated external beam radiotherapy (HFEBRT) referred to as "chemoradiotherapy'.