Treatment Option Overview
Many of the improvements in survival in childhood cancer have been made as a
result of clinical trials that have attempted to improve on the best available,
accepted therapy. Clinical trials in pediatrics are designed to compare new
therapy with therapy that is currently accepted as standard. This comparison
may be done in a randomized study of two treatment arms or by evaluating a
single new treatment and comparing the results with those that were previously
obtained with existing therapy.
Because of the relative rarity of cancer in children, all patients with brain
tumors should be considered for entry into a clinical trial. To determine and
implement optimum treatment, treatment planning by a multidisciplinary team of
cancer specialists who have experience treating childhood brain tumors is
required. Radiation therapy of pediatric brain tumors is technically very
demanding and should be carried out in centers that have experience in that
area in order to ensure optimal results.
The designations in PDQ that treatments are “standard” or “under clinical
evaluation” are not to be used as a basis for reimbursement determinations.
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