About CNS germinal tumors with Prof. Abdelbaki

17.06.2022

Professor Mohamed Abdelbaki, Director of the Children’s Neurooncology Program at Washington University of Medicine in St. Louis (USA), on 8th of June 2022 visited the seat of the Department of Paediatrics, Haemathology & Oncology (KKPHiO) of the MUG. The meeting was organized by its representatives: Head of the unit Dr. Habil. Ninela Irga-Jaworska and Prof. Ewa Bień, Head of the Ward of Chemotherapy, where children with CNS tumors are treated. The specialists cooperating with KKPHiO in the field of neurooncology were also present: Prof. Maria Mazurkiewicz-Bełdzińska (Head of the unit) and Marta Zawadzka, Ph.D. from the Division of Developmental Neurology, Prof. Wojciech Kloc *, Head of the Ward of Neurosurgery at the Mikołaj Kopernik Hospital COPERNICUS in Gdańsk and *Ewa Szutowicz-Zielińska, Ph.D. from the MUG’s Department of Oncology & Radiotherapy, dealing with radiotherapy in children. The visit of Prof. Abdelbaki in Gdańsk was made possible by the “Zobacz mnie” Foundation:https: //zobaczmnie.org/, whose representatives together with the President Agnieszka Aleksandrowicz-Zdral also participated in the meeting.

participants of the meeting, in the middle are Prof. Ewa Bień, Prof. Mohamed Abdelbaki and Dr. Habil. Ninela Irga-Jaworska

The event at the Butterfly Hospital began with a welcome of Prof. Mohamed Abdelbaki, after which the team of the Clinic together with a guest from the USA went around the Hematology and Chemotherapy wards, discussing new therapeutic options in patients with central nervous system tumors currently hospitalized in the wards. Later in the meeting, the participants had the opportunity to ask the Professor questions about the functioning of the Children’s Neurooncology Program at the Children’s Hospital in St. Louis and numerous commissions and clinical trials of CNS tumors in children.

The most frequently discussed topic was the comparison of Polish and American realities of the work of researchers and medics. The invited expert pointed out the benefits of multidisciplinary consultations to which patients arriving at the hospital are subjected before they are taken care of by specific medical teams. This allows scientists to work more clinically and spend more time doing research.

The main part of the visit of Prof. Abdelbaki there was a lecture entitled Latest updates on germinal tumors of the CNS, during which the expert discussed the topic of biology, diagnostics and modern methods of treatment of these rare diseases. He also discussed the role of PNOC (Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium), one of the largest consortia in North America, conducting early-phase clinical trials. Professor Abdelbaki is a member of the PNOC’s Scientific Committee and is also chairman of the Germinal Cancer Working Group. Its main task is to identify new biological markers and therapeutic targets for therapy-resistant patients and to develop algorithms for clinical and biological risk stratification for patients with germline CNS tumors. During the lecture, prof. Abdelbaki presented his early-phase clinical trials, including a trial using novel targeted therapies.

lecture of Prof. Mohamed Abdelbaki

– I am happy that today I can discuss with top-class specialists like you. I am also glad that as part of our cooperation, we can together train, conduct research and treat patients – said Professor Abdelbaki.

The meeting ended with joint consultations of selected patients with CNS tumors diagnosed or treated at the Department of Paediatrics, Hematology and Oncology. During them Prof. Mohamed Abdelbaki discussed the optimal methods of diagnosis, treatment and control after the end of therapy with Polish oncologists and a team of specialists from the 2nd Division of Radiology of the MUG headed by Prof. Edyta Szurowska. The event was concluded with the announcement of further clinical and scientific cooperation between Prof. Abdelbaki, the Zobacz mnie Foundation, and the MUG’s Department of Paediatrics, Haemathology & Oncology.

photo by Paweł Sudara/MUG