Treatment by type

There are treatments for all children with brain tumors. Three kinds of treatment are used:

• Surgery (removing the tumor in an operation)
• Radiation therapy (using high- dose x-rays to kill tumor cells)
• Chemotherapy (using drugs to kill tumor cells)

More than one method of treatment may be used, depending on the needs of the patient.

Experienced doctors working together may provide the best treatment for children with brain tumors. Your child’s treatment will often be coordinated by a pediatric oncologist, a doctor who specializes in cancer in children. The pediatric oncologist may refer your child to other specialists, such as a pediatric neurosurgeon (a specialist in childhood brain surgery), a pediatric neurologist, a psychologist, a radiation oncologist, and other doctors who specialize in the type of treatment your child requires.

Treatment options often depend on the type of tumor and its location within the brain. Complete or near complete removal of the tumor is often possible. If the tumor cannot be completely removed, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy may also be given.

Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation from x-rays and other sources to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy for childhood brain tumors usually comes from a machine outside the body (external radiation therapy). For some types of brain tumors, clinical trials are evaluating radiation therapy given in several small doses per day (hyperfractionated radiation therapy). Since radiation therapy can affect growth and brain development, other clinical trials are testing ways to decrease or delay radiation therapy, especially for younger children who have not yet achieved full growth.

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs may be taken by mouth or injected into a vein (intravenous) or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. Chemotherapy is being studied in clinical trials as a means of delaying, modifying or eliminating the need for radiation therapy in younger patients, as well as for use prior to or during radiation therapy.

Treatment for childhood brain tumor depends on the type and grade of the tumor, its location within the brain, and your child’s age and overall health.

Your child may receive treatment that is considered standard based on its effectiveness in a number of patients in past studies, or you may choose to have your child enter a clinical trial. Not all patients are cured with standard therapy and some standard treatments may have more side effects than are desired. For these reasons, clinical trials are designed to test new treatments and to find better ways to treat people with cancer. Clinical trials are ongoing in most parts of the country for childhood brain tumors. For more information, call the Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237); TTY at 1-800-332-8615.

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