Purpose of This PDQ Summary
This PDQ cancer information summary for health professionals provides comprehensive, peer-reviewed, evidence-based information about the treatment of childhood brain stem gliomas. This summary is reviewed regularly and updated as necessary by the PDQ Pediatric Treatment Editorial Board 1.
Information about the following is included in this summary:
- Cellular classification.
- Stage information.
- Treatment options.
This summary is intended as a resource to inform and assist clinicians and other health professionals who care for pediatric cancer patients. It does not provide formal guidelines or recommendations for making health care decisions.
Some of the reference citations in this summary are accompanied by a level-of-evidence designation. These designations are intended to help readers assess the strength of the evidence supporting the use of specific interventions or approaches. The PDQ Pediatric and Adult Treatment Editorial Boards use a formal evidence ranking system 2 in developing their level-of-evidence designations. Based on the strength of the available evidence, treatment options are described as either “standard” or “under clinical evaluation.” These classifications should not be used as a basis for reimbursement determinations.
This summary is also available in a patient 3 version which is written in less-technical language, and in Spanish 4. [Note: The PDQ Childhood Brain Tumor Treatment summaries are in the process of being substantially revised. This revision process was prompted by changes in the nomenclature and classification for pediatric central nervous system tumors. New PDQ childhood brain tumor treatment summaries will be added and some existing summaries will be replaced or their content combined with other PDQ childhood brain tumor treatment summaries in the near future.] |