Your child's treatment will often be coordinated by a pediatric oncologist, a doctor who specializes in cancer in children. Surgery is the primary treatment for childhood cerebellar astrocytoma. Complete or near complete removal of the tumor is often possible. If the tumor cannot be completely removed, radiation therapy may be given. Because radiation therapy can affect a child's growth and development, chemotherapy may be given to delay or eliminate the need for radiation therapy.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells.
Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. Treatment by Stage Treatment for childhood cerebellar astrocytoma depends on the tumor location, the extent to which the tumor has spread, and the 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 enter 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.