Conditions
Childhood Brain Tumor
What are Childhood Brain Tumors?
Childhood brain tumors are a diverse group of diseases characterized by the abnormal growth of cells within the brain. Other than leukemia and lymphoma, brain tumors are the most common type of cancer that occurs in children.
Brain tumors can occur in both children and adults; however, treatment is usually somewhat different.
Types of Childhood Brain Tumors
There are several types of childhood brain tumors, depending upon the location of the the tumor and the behavior of the tissue. Currently, there is no staging for childhood brain tumors. Instead, they are grouped and treated according to their type. Types include:
| Types of Brain Tumors | Sub-types |
| Infratentorial tumors | Medulloblastoma |
| Cerebellar astrocytoma | |
| Infratentorial ependymoma | Brain stem glioma |
| Supratentorial tumors | Cerebral astrocytoma |
| Supratentorial ependymoma | |
| Craniopharyngioma | |
| Central nervous system germ cell tumor | |
| Supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal and pineal tumors | |
| Visual pathway and hypothalamic glioma | |
| Spinal cord tumors |
Common Symptoms
The most frequent symptoms of brain tumors include: