Your child's treatment may be coordinated by pediatric specialists in neurosurgery, neurology, rehabilitation, neuropathology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, neuroradiology, endocrinology, and psychology who have special expertise in the care of patients with childhood brain tumors. Because tumors in the brain often cannot be removed, radiation therapy is the most common treatment for children over 3 years of age with ependymomas. Surgery is used when possible to treat ependymomas. Depending on the location of the tumor, your child's doctor may remove as much of the tumor as possible by creating an opening in the skull in an operation called a craniotomy. If the ependymoma is in a place where it cannot be removed, surgery may be limited to a biopsy of the cancer.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells.
Chemotherapy drugs may be taken by mouth or injected into a vein or a muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. Chemotherapy is being studied in clinical trials as a means of delaying or eliminating the need for radiation therapy in younger patients, as well as for use prior to or during radiation therapy. The treatment your child receives depends on the grade of the tumor, its location, and whether or not he or she has received previous treatment. 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.