The children’s brain tumor network (CBTN) – Accelerating research in pediatric central nervous system tumors through collaboration and open science.

Pediatric brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer-related death in
children in the United States and contribute a disproportionate number of
potential years of life lost compared to adult cancers. Moreover, survivors
frequently suffer long-term side effects, including secondary cancers. The
Children’s Brain Tumor Network (CBTN) is a multi-institutional
international clinical research consortium created to advance therapeutic
development through the collection and rapid distribution of biospecimens
and data via open-science research platforms for real-time access and use
by the global research community. The CBTN’s 32 member institutions utilize
a shared regulatory governance architecture at the Children’s Hospital of
Philadelphia to accelerate and maximize the use of biospecimens and data.
As of August 2022, CBTN has enrolled over 4700 subjects, over 1500 parents,
and collected over 65,000 biospecimen aliquots for research. Additionally,
over 80 preclinical models have been developed from collected tumors.
Multi-omic data for over 1000 tumors and germline material are currently
available with data generation for > 5000 samples underway. To our
knowledge, CBTN provides the largest open-access pediatric brain tumor
multi-omic dataset annotated with longitudinal clinical and outcome data,
imaging, associated biospecimens, child-parent genomic pedigrees, and in
vivo and in vitro preclinical models. Empowered by NIH-supported platforms
such as the Kids First Data Resource and the Childhood Cancer Data
Initiative, the CBTN continues to expand the resources needed for
scientists to accelerate translational impact for improved outcomes and
quality of life for children with brain and spinal cord tumors.