Clinical trials are studying different chemotherapy drugs for cerebral astrocytoma. Treatment by type Treatment for cerebral astrocytoma depends on the type and stage of the disease and your child's age and overall health. Your child may receive treatment that is considered standard based on its effectiveness in a number of patients in past studies, or you may choose to have your child go into a clinical trial. Not all patients are cured with standard therapy and some standard treatments may have more side effects than are desired. For these reasons, clinical trials are designed to test new treatments and to find better ways to treat cancer patients.
Clinical trials are ongoing in most parts of the country for cerebral astrocytoma.
Low-grade childhood cerebral astrocytoma Treatment depends on whether all of the cancer can be removed during surgery. If the cancer can be removed during surgery, there may be no more treatment. If there is cancer left after surgery, radiation therapy may be given following surgery, or the doctor may wait until the cancer has started to grow again before giving radiation therapy. Chemotherapy is being studied in treating some groups of children, including those younger than 5 years of age. Your child's treatment will probably be surgery followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy.