Your Child's Medical Care and Information

Pediatric brain tumors require specialized treatment methods that are most often provided at comprehensive pediatric hematology/oncology centers by a multi-disciplinary team of pediatric cancer specialists; this team usually includes pediatric neurosurgeons, pediatric oncologists, pediatric radiation oncologists and several other vitally important specialtists. The care of the child should also provide families with access to education and support services. For more information, listen to an archived version of our internet conference "The Importance of a Multi-disciplinary Approach to Treating a Child With a Brain Tumor" or order a free copy of the conference on a CD.

The treatment regime for your child is referred to as a protocol. It will be outlined in a document that will give the treatments, drugs and dosages over a designated period of time. The dosages, schedules and treatments may change during the treatment depending on your child’s response to it.

Your doctors may suggest that your child be enrolled in a clinical trial. The "standard treatment" is the best-known alternative based upon the type of tumor your child has and other variables that may influence the treatment. Standard treatments are found by using clinical trails that test new regimens against standard treatments to determine which is most effective.

A list of open pediatric brain tumor clinical trials may be found at Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium and the Neuro-oncology branch of the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Neurological Diseases and Stroke home.ccr.cancer.gov/nob.

For more information, listen to an archived version of our internet conference "The Clinical Trials Process" or order a free copy of the conference on a CD.

It is important that you keep records of your child's treatment. Survivors of childhood brain tumors will need to be monitored as adults by doctors that are aware of their medical history. The doctor will need to know about the history of the tumor treatment and the types of procedures and drugs the survivor has had in the past. Sometimes survivors will experience effects later on in their lives from the treatments they have received. The doctor will be better prepared to watch for possible late effects of treatment if the medical history is provided. A form that can be used for this purpose is Your Child's Medical History.

More resources that may be helpful are:

For more information about late effects, listen to an archived version of our internet conference "Growth and Development: Endocrine Issues Facing Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors" or order a free copy of the conference on a CD.

For more information about going back to school, listen to an archived version of our internet conference "School Re-entry Following the Diagnosis and Treatment of Your Child's Brain Tumor" or order a free copy of the conference on a CD.

Read more about health insurance-related issues.

If your child is an adolescent or a young adult survivor, our pages for survivors may be of interest to them.