Stage Information and Treatment of Newly Diagnosed and Recurrent Childhood Spinal Cord Tumors

There is no uniformly accepted staging system for childhood primary spinal cord tumors. These tumors are classified and treated based on their location within the spinal cord and histology. Refer to one of the following PDQ summaries for more information on the staging and treatment of newly diagnosed and recurrent childhood spinal cord tumors:

• Childhood Astrocytomas Treatment ¹.
• Childhood Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumors Treatment ².
• Childhood Ependymoma Treatment ³.

In general, at the time of recurrence, low-grade spinal cord glial tumors can be treated with re-resection with or without the use of radiation therapy. Recurrent low-grade and high-grade tumors that cannot be re-resected can be treated on protocols designed for histologically similar brain tumors.