Childhood Brain Tumors

Excerpt

Pediatric brain tumors are the most common type of solid childhood cancer and only second to leukemia as a cause of pediatric malignancies. They are classified into supra and infratentorial tumors. They could also be classified according to the age of diagnosis into congenital brain tumors (CBT) (diagnosed antenatally in the first 60 days of life), tumors of the infancy (younger than 1 year of age), and older children. The prognosis of pediatric brain tumors depends on the age at presentation, histological type, and extent of resection. CBT behaves in different ways than pathologically similar tumors in older children. For example, high-grade gliomas exhibit sightly better prognosis in very young children compared to their older counterparts. With the advances in imaging techniques, molecular biology, and genetics, pediatric brain tumors are increasingly being diagnosed early in the disease course, sub-grouped, and treated with more targeted strategies.

Among all childhood cancers, brain tumors are the leading cause of death.

This article highlights the congenital group with an emphasis on the most common types in this category, specifically; teratoma, choroid plexus papilloma, desmoplastic infantile tumors (DIA/DIG), glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), and medulloblastoma.