Childhood Brain Tumors

Brain cancers account for about 15% of pediatric cancers and are the second most common type of cancer in children. Since the brain controls learning, memory, senses (hearing, visual, smell, taste, touch), emotions, muscles, organs, and blood vessels, the presentation of symptoms varies accordingly.
Treatment of pediatric brain cancers (and non-malignant brain tumors) is more complex than is the treatment of some of the other childhood cancers. Surgery to remove the tumor is not always possible, either because the tumor is inaccessible or because surgical removal of the tumor would damage critical parts of the developing brain. Inoperable areas of the brain include the brain stem, thalamus, motor area, and deep areas of gray matter. The prognosis of a brain tumor depends not only on the type, grade, and size of the tumor, but on its location in the brain. Another reason that malignant brain tumors can be difficult to treat is because the blood-brain barrier prevents chemotherapy from entering the brain and reaching the tumor when given systemically.

Symptoms of brain tumors

The symptoms depend on the location and size of the tumor. Since the brain controls learning, memory, senses, emotions, muscles, organs, and blood vessels, the presentation of symptoms varies accordingly. Since young children often do not complain of the symptoms, parents must rely on their own observations of their child to be aware of signs and symptoms. Sometimes it is the child's school teacher who picks up on the signs and symptoms of a child's brain tumor.
Symptoms can include:

• a seizure not related to high fever
• staring, repetitive automatic movements
• persistent vomiting without any known cause (projectile vomiting), nausea
• progressive weakness or clumsiness; neck tilt, squint
• walking, balance problems
• precocious puberty; growth retardation
• sleep apnea
• vision problems
• headache, especially that wakes the child up at night or is early in the morning
• pain, especially back pain, which should be taken seriously in a child
• changes in personality, irritability, listlessness

As with most childhood cancers, the symptoms of brain tumors are vague and confusing, and are often initially attributed to viruses, neurological problems, or even emotional problems. Most parents of children diagnosed with brain tumors report variations and combinations of the symptoms listed above, symptoms that had no apparent cause and may have lasted for several months before the pediatricians ordered the tests that finally diagnosed a brain tumor.