Pediatric Central Nervous System Tumor

Tumors of the central nervous system (brain, spine) are the second most common groups of cancers in childhood, accounting for 20% of all childhood malignancies. A total of 60-70% of childhood central nervous system tumors arise from the glial cell.

According to the site of tumor, brain tumors are divided into supratentorial tumors (primitive neuroectodermal tumor, craniopharyngioma, germ cell tumors, et al.), infratentiroal tumors (medulloblastoma, glioma, diffuse midline glioma, et al), and ventricular tumors (choroid plexus carcinoma, etc.). Spinal tumors are subdivided into intramedullary tumor as ependymomas, intradural tumor as meningiomas, and extradural tumors as neuroblastoma or lymphoma. 

General signs and symptoms of intracranial tumors are headache worsening in the morning, vomiting, disturbances in gait, hemiparesis, impaired vision, mental disturbances, seizures, endocrine abnormalities, etc. Symptoms of pediatric brain tumor are related to the location, size, and growth rate of tumor. 

There are some known genetic syndromes associated with pediatric central nervous system tumors, as neurofibromatosis, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, Gorlin syndrome, etc. 

There is no known method to prevent brain tumor in children. However, the patient needs to get regular screening for cancer if they have cancer predisposition syndrome.