Ependymoma medical therapy
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Ependymoma medical therapy On the Web |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Ependymoma medical therapy |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Ahmad Al Maradni, M.D. [2]
Overview
The predominant therapy for ependymoma is surgical resection. Adjunctive chemoradiation may be required.
Chemotherapy
- There is no evidence to date that adjuvant chemotherapy, including the use of myeloablative chemotherapy, improves the outcome for patients with totally resected, nondisseminated ependymoma.[1]
- Current treatment approaches do not include chemotherapy as a standard component of primary therapy for children with newly diagnosed ependymomas that are completely resected.
- Etoposide may be used in recurrent cases.
Radiation Therapy
- Radiation therapy consisting of 54 gray to 55.8 gray is recommended for children aged 3 years and older who are diagnosed with well-differentiated ependymomas.[2]
- It is not necessary to treat the entire CNS (whole brain and spine) because these tumors usually recur initially at the local site.
- When possible, patients should be treated in a center experienced with the delivery of highly conformal radiation therapy (including intensity-modulated radiation therapy or charged-particle radiation therapy) to pediatric patients with brain tumors.
References
- ↑ Zacharoulis S, Levy A, Chi SN, Gardner S, Rosenblum M, Miller DC; et al. (2007). "Outcome for young children newly diagnosed with ependymoma, treated with intensive induction chemotherapy followed by myeloablative chemotherapy and autologous stem cell rescue". Pediatr Blood Cancer. 49 (1): 34–40. doi:10.1002/pbc.20935. PMID 16874765.
- ↑ Ependymoma treatment. http://www.cancer.gov/types/brain/hp/child-ependymoma-treatment-pdq#section/_48 URL Accessed on 10/13/2015.