Astrocytoma medical therapy
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Astrocytoma medical therapy |
Overview
Medical Therapy
- Treatment depends on the size and type of tumor and the child's general health. The goals of treatment may be to cure the tumor, relieve symptoms, and improve brain function or the child's comfort
- Two related drugs have been shown to shrink or stabilize supependymal giant cell tumors: rapamycin and everolimus. These both belong to the mTOR inhibitor class of immunosuppressants, and are both contraindicated in patients with severe infections.
- Rapamycin showed efficacy in five cases of SEGA in TSC patients, shrinking their tumor volumes by an average of 65%. However, after the drug was stopped, the tumors regrew.
- Everolimus which has a similar structure as rapamycin, but with slightly increased bioavailability and shorter half-life, was studied in 28 patients with SEGA. There was a significant reduction in SEGA size in 75% of the patients, and a mild improvement in their seizures. Everolimus was approved for the treatment of SEGA by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October, 2010.
- The following are treatments for specific types of tumors:
- Medicines used to treat primary brain tumors in children include:
- Corticosteroids to reduce brain swelling
- Diuretics (water pills) to reduce brain swelling and pressure
- Anticonvulsants to reduce or prevent seizures
- Pain medicines
- Comfort measures, safety measures, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other such steps may be required to improve quality of life.
- Despite decades of therapeutic research, curative intervention is still nonexistent for high grade astrocytomas; patient care ultimately focuses on palliative management.
Radiation Therapy
- Radiation therapy is a cancer treatment that uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells or keep them from growing. There are two types of radiation therapy:
- External radiation therapy uses a machine outside the body to send radiation toward the cancer.
- Internal radiation therapy uses a radioactive substance sealed in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters that are placed directly into or near the cancer.
- External radiation therapy is used to treat astrocytoma in children. The way the radiation therapy is given depends on the type of tumor and where the tumor formed in the brain or spinal cord.Radiation therapy to the brain can affect growth and development in young children. Certain ways of giving radiation therapy can lessen the damage to healthy brain tissue:
- Conformal radiation therapy uses a computer to make a 3-dimensional (3-D) picture of the tumor and shapes the radiation beams to fit the tumor. This allows a high dose of radiation to reach the tumor and causes less damage to normal tissue around the tumor.
- Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) uses images created by a computer that show the size and shape of the tumor. Thin beams of radiation of different strengths are aimed at the tumor from many angles.
- Stereotactic radiation therapy uses a rigid head frame attached to the skull to aim radiation directly to the tumor, causing less damage to normal tissue around the tumor. The total dose of radiation is divided into several smaller doses given over several days. This procedure is also called stereotactic external-beam radiation therapy and stereotaxic radiation therapy.
- Proton beam radiation therapy is a type of high-energy, external radiation therapy that uses streams of protons (small, positively-charged particles of matter) to kill tumor cells.
For children younger than 3 years, chemotherapy may be given instead, to delay or reduce the need for radiation therapy.