Tumours
Unlike in adults where tumours in the brain usually occur as a result of spread from cancers elsewhere in the body, brain tumours in children usually arise in cells from the brain itself (and are therefore called primary). Again unlike adults most childhood brain tumours occur low down at the back of the brain (called the posterior fossa). The different cell types (called astrocytomas, medulloblastomas, ependymomas or gliomas) have different behaviours and different responses to treatment, and the way they manifest themselves depends on the position they occupy. Their behaviour tends to be less aggressive than primary brain tumours in the adult. Treatment involves a combination of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, and may be curative.
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