Brain Tumor Center

Patient and Family Education

Childhood Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma

Stages

If a child has a childhood visual pathway and hypothalamic glioma, 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 visual pathway and hypothalamic glioma. 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 Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma:

If a child has not previously been treated for visual pathway and hypothalamic glioma (or has only been treated for symptoms) treatment may begin with one of the following:

For patients without symptoms or progression, observation without treatment
Surgery
Radiation therapy
Chemotherapy
Clinical trials evaluating chemotherapy to shrink the tumor and delay radiation therapy

Recurrent Visual Pathway and Hypothalamic Glioma:

Recurrent disease means the cancer has come back (recurred) after it has been treated. It may recur in the brain or in the head or spinal area. 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 that was given previously. If possible, the tumor might be removed during surgery. Radiation therapy might be given to the patient, especially if he or she has not received it previously. Doctors might choose to use chemotherapy. Clinical trials are evaluating new chemotherapy drugs, and parents may choose to enroll their child in one of these studies.

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