RT Book, Section
A1 Cohen, Kenneth J.
A1 Pollack, Ian F.
A2 Rudolph, Colin D.
A2 Rudolph, Abraham M.
A2 Lister, George E.
A2 First, Lewis R.
A2 Gershon, Anne A.
SR Print(0)
ID 7043768
T1 Chapter 460. Brain Tumors and Spinal Tumors
T2 Rudolph's Pediatrics, 22e
YR 2011
FD 2011
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-149723-7
LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=7043768
RD 2024/04/19
AB Central  nervous  system  (CNS)  neoplasms  are,  as  a  group,  the  most  common  solid  tumors  of  childhood,  second  only  to  the  leukemias  as  a  cause  of  cancer  in  children.  Despite  improvements  in  diagnosis  and  management,  more  children  will  die  of  brain  tumors  than  of  any  other  type  of  pediatric  cancer.1  Although  the  prognosis  for  children  with  certain  CNS  tumors,  such  as  medulloblastoma,2  has  been  improved  through  a  combination  of  surgical  advances  and  refinements  in  radiotherapy  and  chemotherapy,  other  groups,  such  as  diffuse  intrinsic  brainstem  gliomas,3  continue  to  have  a  poor  outcome.  Children  who  experience  long-term  survival  after  therapy  are  at  risk  for  sequelae  from  the  tumor  or  its  treatment  that  may  adversely  impact  their  quality  of  life.4  Current  cooperative  group  studies  are  attempting  to  address  these  issues,  focusing  on  improving  survival  results,  with  treatment-responsive  lesions,  in  children  with  tumor  types  that  historically  have  been  resistant  to  therapy,  as  well  as  on  improving  quality  of  life  in  children  with  tumor-responsive  lesions.  Increasingly,  these  studies  also  incorporate  molecular  and  biological  classification  of  tumors  to  facilitate  risk-adapted  treatment  stratification.