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Treatment Option Overview
Treatment by type
There are treatments for all children with visual pathway glioma. Four kinds
of standard treatment are used:
Experienced doctors working together can often give the best treatment for
children with visual pathway glioma. Your child’s treatment will often be
coordinated by a pediatric oncologist, a doctor who specializes in cancer in
children. The pediatric oncologist may refer you to other doctors, such as a
pediatric neurosurgeon (a specialist in childhood brain surgery), a pediatric neurologist, a psychologist, a radiation oncologist, and other doctors who
specialize in the type of treatment your child requires.
Surgery is one treatment for visual pathway glioma. Depending on where the
cancer is and the type of cancer, your child’s doctor may remove as much of the tumor as possible. If the tumor cannot be totally removed, radiation therapy
and chemotherapy may also be given. If the cancer is in a place where it
cannot be removed, surgery may be limited to a biopsy of the cancer.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays to kill cancer cells and shrink
tumors. Radiation therapy for childhood brain tumors usually comes from a
machine outside the body (external radiation therapy). Because radiation therapy can affect growth and brain development, clinical trials are testing ways to decrease or delay radiation therapy,
especially for younger children.
These include internal radiation therapy, in which radiation is put into the brain through thin plastic tubes, and hyperfractionated radiation therapy, in which
radiation therapy is given in several small doses per day instead of all at once. Conformal radiation therapy uses a computer to create a 3-D picture of the tumor and the radiation beams are shaped to fit the tumor; this helps to keep the radiation away from healthy tissue as much as possible.
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy may be taken by
pill, or it may be put into the body by a needle in a vein or muscle.
Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the
bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the
body. Chemotherapy is being studied to delay the use of radiation therapy in
some patients. Clinical trials are studying different chemotherapy drugs for
visual pathway gliomas.
Some brain tumors and cancer treatments cause side effects that continue or appear years after cancer treatment has ended. These are called late effects. Late effects of cancer treatment may include physical problems; changes in mood, feelings, thinking, learning or memory; and having second cancers (new types of cancer). Some late effects may be treated or controlled. It is important to talk with your child's doctors about the possible late effects caused by some treatments. Refer to the PDQ summary on Late Effects of Treatment for Childhood Cancer for more information.
Treatment by type
Treatment for childhood visual pathway glioma depends on the type and stage of
the disease and your child’s age and overall health.
Your child may receive treatment that is considered standard based on its
effectiveness in a number of patients in past studies, or you may choose to
have your child go into a clinical trial. Not all patients are cured with standard therapy and some standard treatments may have unwanted side effects. For these reasons, clinical trials are designed to test new
treatments and to find better ways to treat cancer patients. Clinical trials
are going on in most parts of the country for childhood visual pathway glioma.
If you want more information, call the Cancer Information Service at
1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237); TTY at 1-800-332-8615.
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