What are the most common types of pediatric brain tumors?

If your child has a brain tumor, also called a neoplasm, he or she has an abnormal growth of cells with the brain. To determine what kind of tissue or cell type the tumor arose from, physicians will look at the tumor under a microscope.

It is important to understand the various types of brain tumors. Brain tumors can be categorized as:

• Malignant, or cancerous
• Benign, or non-cancerous
• Primary, which means that the tumor started in the brain
• Metastic, which means that the tumor started in another part of the body and spread to the brain

Benign tumors tend to stay contained, but malignant tumors are very aggressive. They grow rapidly and can spread to areas near the original tumor and to other areas in the brain. Treatment options and long-term outcome for your child vary depending on cell type, grade of the tumor and the location in the brain.

The most common types of brain tumors in children are:

• Medulloblastomas/PNET (primitive neuroendocrine tumors) - Malignant tumors of the central nervous system arising in the cerebellum, which is the region of the brain which controls motor actions.
• Astrocytomas - Tumors of astrocyte cells, which are essential cells of the brain.
• Ependymomas -Tumors of the cells that support, nourish, and produce myelin and line the ventricles that cerebrospinal fluid flows through.
• Craniopharyngiomas - Tumors which occur near the pituitary gland.