Our Mission
As physicians and researchers our goal is twofold. First, we hope to increase awareness of this rare disease to help both clinicians and families better understand, diagnose, and treat pilomyxoid astrocytoma. Second, we hope that through continued funding and cooperation our research will lead to a more complete understanding of the disease process in this and other pediatric brain tumors.
Pilomyxoid astrocytoma (PMA) is a newly discovered type of brain tumor. In the past, this neoplasm was grouped together with pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), a slow-growing and benign tumor. Recently, however, it has been shown that PMA demonstrates unique histological features that allow it to be differentiated from PA. Furthermore, PMA tends to behave aggressively and carry a poor prognosis, with significantly shorter survival than typical PA, as well as a high rate of metastasis throughout the nervous system.