|
Treatment Option Overview
Treatment in a clinical trial
Different types of treatment are available for children with visual pathway glioma. Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment.
Because cancer in children is rare, taking part in a clinical trial should be considered. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment
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 in a clinical trial
For some patients, taking part in a clinical trial may be the best treatment choice. Clinical trials are part of the cancer research process. Clinical trials are done to find out if new cancer treatments are safe and effective or better than the standard treatment.
Many of today's standard treatments for cancer are based on earlier clinical trials. Patients who take part in a clinical trial may receive the standard treatment or be among the first to receive a new treatment.
Patients who take part in clinical trials also help improve the way cancer will be treated in the future. Even when clinical trials do not lead to effective new treatments, they often answer important questions and help move research forward.
Some clinical trials only include patients who have not yet received treatment. Other trials test treatments for patients whose cancer has not gotten better. There are also clinical trials that test new ways to stop cancer from recurring (coming back) or reduce the side effects of cancer treatment.
Clinical trials are taking place in many parts of the country. In the following lists of treatments for the different stages, a link to search results for current clinical trials is included for each section. These have been retrieved from NCI's clinical trials database. For some types or stages of cancer, there may not be any trials listed. Check with your child's doctor for clinical trials that are not listed here but may be right for your child.
Back to Top
< Previous Section | Next Section > |
