Sometimes called anaplastic astrocytoma or glioblastoma multiforme, these tumors often grow rapidly and involve portions of the brain that cause major neurological problems.
Standard Treatment Treatment includes surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy . Radiation is given after as complete a surgical resection as possible to an area that encompasses the entire tumor and sometimes the whole brain.
A Children's Cooperative Group study with radiation therapy and three chemotherapy agents (vincristine + lomustine + prednisone) produced a 40 percent survival of three years compared with 13 percent for children treated with radiation therapy alone. Again, children under the age of three may receive chemotherapy to delay or modify radiotherapy . A number of clinical trials are evaluating the role of chemotherapy.
Two-Year Survival Less than 25 percent. The prognosis may be better if the tumor can be totally removed. Younger patients and those with lower grade tumors may do better.
Recurrent Cancer Chemotherapy is given if relapse occurs after radiation therapy. Since no standard agents have a high degree of activity, entry on a clinical trial should be considered.
