This PDQ summary contains content that is also included in the new PDQ Childhood Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumors summary. In the very near future, the PDQ Childhood Supratentorial Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors and Pineoblastoma summary will be removed from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) website and the content contained in this summary will be found in the PDQ Childhood Central Nervous System Embryonal Tumors summary.

The National Cancer Institute provides the PDQ pediatric cancer treatment information summaries as a public service to increase the availability of evidence-based cancer information to health professionals, patients, and the public.

Primary brain tumors are a diverse group of diseases that together constitute the most common solid tumor of childhood. Brain tumors are classified according to histology, but tumor location and extent of spread are important factors that affect treatment and prognosis. Immunohistochemical analysis, cytogenetic and molecular genetic findings, and measures of mitotic activity are increasingly used in tumor diagnosis and classification.

Refer to the PDQ Childhood Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors Treatment ¹ summary for information about the general classification of childhood brain and spinal cord tumors.