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Brain tumors in children
Last reviewed: 07.07.2025
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In children, 81-90% of brain tumors are intracerebral. They are more often located in the midline relative to the structures of the brain (cerebellar vermis, III, IV ventricles, brainstem). In children of the first year of life, supratentorial brain tumors predominate, while in the age group from 1 to 5 years - tumors of the posterior cranial fossa, among which medulloblastomas are most common (in 2/3 of cases - in boys). Brainstem tumors account for about 10% of all brain tumors in children. According to the histological type, about 70% of brain tumors in children are of neuroectodermal origin.
Primary neoplasms of the central nervous system are the most common solid tumors in childhood (16-20%). In terms of frequency of occurrence, they are second only to leukemia. In 95% of cases, neoplasms affect the brain.
Brain tumors in children have a number of features compared to adults. First of all, this is a high frequency of infratentorially located formations (2/3, or 42-70%, of brain tumors in children) with predominant damage (up to 35-65%) to the structures of the posterior cranial fossa. Among the nosological forms, astrocytomas of varying degrees of differentiation, medulloblastoma, ependymomas and gliomas of the brainstem predominate in frequency.
Symptoms of Brain Tumors in Children
In newborns and young children, brain tumors are manifested by the development of progressive hydrocephalus, increased excitability, vomiting, decreased rate of body weight growth, delayed psychomotor and intellectual development, swelling of the optic disc, decreased visual acuity, focal symptoms, and seizures.
In older children, clinical symptoms of a brain tumor are characterized by headache, vomiting, dizziness, delays in psychomotor and intellectual development, frequent lethargy and drowsiness, swelling of the optic discs, convulsions and the occurrence of paresis.
Focal symptoms of brain damage in children are often leveled by the picture of hypertensive syndrome, which complicates the primary diagnosis of tumors. Often, tumors of subtentorial localization in children are masked as gastroenterological pathology, infectious diseases, helminthic invasions, etc.
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Diagnosis of brain tumors in children
Histological examination is a decisive method for verifying a diagnosis, determining both the tactics (scope of surgical intervention) and the strategy (prognosis, use of radiation therapy, chemotherapy, repeated surgical interventions) for treating CNS tumors.
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Treatment of brain tumors in children
Surgical treatment
The standard and key method of treating CNS tumors is surgical removal of the brain tumor. Over the past three decades, the survival rate of patients with CNS tumors has improved significantly due to the advent of modern diagnostic methods (widespread use of magnetic resonance therapy with contrast enhancement), improvement of neurosurgical techniques, neuroanesthesiology and resuscitation, and improvement of accompanying therapy.
Neurosurgery plays a leading role in the treatment of patients with brain tumors. The operation allows for the maximum removal of the tumor and the resolution of problems associated with the mass effect (symptoms of intracranial hypertension and neurological deficit), i.e., eliminating the immediate threat to the patient's life, as well as obtaining material to determine the histological type of the tumor.
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