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• General Information About Childhood Ependymoma
• Stages of Childhood Ependymoma
• Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma
• Treatment Option Overview
• Treatment Options for Childhood Ependymoma
• To Learn More About Childhood Brain Tumors

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Treatment Options for Childhood Ependymoma

A link to a list of current clinical trials is included for each treatment section. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for you.

Newly Diagnosed Childhood Ependymoma

Newly diagnosed childhood ependymoma is a tumor that has not been treated. The patient may have received drugs or treatment, however, to relieve symptoms caused by the tumor.

Initial treatment for newly diagnosed childhood ependymoma is usually surgery, with or without additional treatment.

After surgery, treatment depends on the age of the child, the amount of tumor that was removed, and whether cancer cells have spread to other parts of the central nervous system.

When the tumor is completely removed by surgery and cancer cells have not spread within the central nervous system, treatment may include the following:

• Radiation therapy to the tumor bed (where the tumor was before it was removed), for children aged 3 years or older.
• Chemotherapy, for children younger than 3 years.
• A clinical trial of watchful waiting, for children aged 1 year or older.
• A clinical trial of conformal radiation therapy.
• A clinical trial of chemotherapy with or without radiation therapy.

When a part of the tumor remains after surgery, but cancer cells have not spread within the central nervous system, treatment may include the following:

• Second-look surgery.
• Radiation therapy to the tumor bed, for children aged 3 years or older.
• A clinical trial of chemotherapy followed by second-look surgery and conformal radiation therapy.

When cancer cells have spread within the central nervous system, treatment may include the following:

• Radiation therapy to the whole brain and spine.
• A clinical trial of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with newly diagnosed childhood ependymoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.

Recurrent Childhood Ependymoma

Treatment of recurrent childhood ependymomas may include the following:

• Surgery.
• Radiation therapy, including stereotactic radiation therapy.
• Chemotherapy, if chemotherapy was not used when the tumor was first diagnosed.
• A clinical trial of a new treatment.

Check for U.S. clinical trials from NCI's list of cancer clinical trials that are now accepting patients with recurrent childhood ependymoma. For more specific results, refine the search by using other search features, such as the location of the trial, the type of treatment, or the name of the drug. General information about clinical trials is available from the NCI Web site.