Ethics of biopsy in children with newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma

Abstract

To understand the ethical dilemmas that beset this issue of biopsy in children with newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, one must understand both the history behind it and the current dominant interpretation of ethics through the medium of the institutional review boards. It is also important to understand that this article represents the author's personal viewpoint. At a consensus meeting to discuss the issue of biopsies in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) at the National institutes of Health held in the fall of 2011, there were a variety of opinions expressed.