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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Pediatric Oncology
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1503894
This article is part of the Research Topic Recent Biological Insights into Pediatric Brain Tumors View all 4 articles

The Role of MEK Inhibition in Pediatric Low-Grade Gliomas

Provisionally accepted
Shehryar R Sheikh Shehryar R Sheikh 1,2Laura Klesse Laura Klesse 3Ross Mangum Ross Mangum 4Ashley Bui Ashley Bui 3Benjamin Siegel Benjamin Siegel 5Mohamed S Abdelbaki Mohamed S Abdelbaki 6Neha J Patel Neha J Patel 7*
  • 1 Department of Neurosurgery, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States
  • 2 Department of Molecular Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
  • 3 Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
  • 4 Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ, United States
  • 5 Brain Tumor Institute and Division of Neurology, Children’s National Hospital, Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States
  • 6 Division of Hematology and Oncology, Washington University, St Louis, MO, United States
  • 7 Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplant, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Pediatric low-grade gliomas (pLGGs) are the most common brain tumors in children. Many patients with unresectable tumors experience recurrence or long-term sequelae from standard chemotherapeutics. This mini-review explores the emerging role of MEK inhibitors in the management of pLGGs, highlighting their potential to transform current treatment paradigms. We review the molecular basis for therapeutic MEK inhibition in the context of pLGG, provide an evidence base for the use of the major MEK inhibitors currently available in the market for pLGG, and review the challenges in the use of MEKi inhibitors in this population.

    Keywords: pediatric low grade glioma, PLGG, MEK, MAPK, targeted therapy

    Received: 29 Sep 2024; Accepted: 04 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sheikh, Klesse, Mangum, Bui, Siegel, Abdelbaki and Patel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Neha J Patel, Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplant, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.