Brain Tumor Center

Patient and Family Education

Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal and Pineal Tumors

Stages

If a patient has a childhood supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal or pineal tumor, the doctor will do additional tests to learn more about the tumor. If a biopsy specimen is taken, the tumor cells will be examined carefully under a microscope to see how they look compared to normal cells. This will determine the grade of the tumor. Cells from higher-grade, more abnormal-looking tumors usually grow faster and are more cancerous than cells from lower-grade tumors. The child's doctor needs to know the type and grade of tumor in order to plan treatment.

There is no staging for childhood supratentorial primitive neuroectodermal or pineal tumor. The type of treatment given depends on the grade of the tumor, its location, and whether or not your child has received previous treatment.

Untreated Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors:

Untreated Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors occur in the upper part of the brain. The cancer cells look very different from other brain cells. This kind of cancer is sometimes called a cerebral neuroblastoma. It can spread to other parts of the brain and spinal cord. A child's treatment will probably begin with surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible. After surgery, treatment depends on the risk of the cancer coming back and the child's age.

If a child is older than 3 years of age, the cancer is in the very back part of the brain, there is no or only a very small amount of cancer left after surgery, and there is no sign that the cancer has spread, the risk is "average" that the cancer will come back (recur). After surgery, your child will probably receive radiation therapy.

If the child is younger than 3 years of age, the cancer is not in the very back part of the brain, all of the cancer could not be removed during surgery, or the cancer has spread to other parts of the brain, the risk is greater that the cancer will recur ("high risk"). After surgery, the child will probably receive radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Clinical trials are evaluating whether chemotherapy can be given to children under the age of 3 to delay or reduce radiation therapy. Other trials are evaluating new treatment options for these patients.

Recurrent Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal and Pineal Tumors:

Recurrent disease means that the cancer has come back (recurred) after it has been treated. It may recur in the brain or in another part of the body. Treatment for recurrent disease depends on the type of tumor, whether the tumor comes back in the same place or in another part of the brain, and what treatment was given previously. Parents may want to consider entering their child in a clinical trial of new treatments.

This page was last updated on: September 22, 2009.