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Brain Tumors in Children

Tag Archives: Ependemoma

Brain tumors in children make up about 15% of pediatric cancers. They are the second most common cancer in children, after childhood leukemias.

The most common brain tumor in children is medulloblastoma. There are many other that affect children, including astrocytomas, gliomas, ependymomas, germinomas and more.Brain Tumor child

Symptoms of Brain Tumors in Children

The symptoms of brain tumors in children vary greatly and depend on the size of the tumor and where it is located. They can include:

  • Seizures
  • Nausea and vomiting
  • Problems with walking or balance
  • Changes in personality
  • Aggression and irritability
  • Weakness or lack of energy 
  • Learning difficulties
  • Memory loss
  • Problems with hearing, vision and other senses
  • Pain, especially back pain
  • Headaches, especially early in the morning or in the middle of the night

Because these symptoms are so variable and can be caused by many other things, brain tumors are often misdiagnosed at first, and it can take a long time for the right tests to be done to discover and identify the brain tumor.

Prognosis for Children with Brain Tumors

The prognosis for children with brain tumors depends on the type of tumor, its grade (a number that indicates how abnormal the cancer cells are and how fast they are likely to grow and spread), its size and its location.

For some tumors, especially those that can easily be removed by surgery, the prognosis is good. There are other tumors that very few children, or none at all, have ever survived.

Even when children do survive, they are often left with lifelong effects from the tumor and its treatment, including learning difficulties, growth problems, paralysis and more.

Treatment for Brain Tumors in Children

Like the prognosis, the treatment of brain tumors depends on the type, grade, size and location of the tumor. Treatment often involves a combination of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery.

Treatment for brain tumors is challenging because the brain is a crucial and highly sensitive organ, and it’s difficult to target treatment at the tumor without harming important parts of the brain.

Removing the brain tumor by surgery is ideal, but not always possible. Sometimes the tumor is too widespread and mixed with other healthy tissue, and sometimes surgeons won’t be able to get to the tumor without damaging other critical parts of the brain.

It’s also very difficult to get chemotherapy to reach the tumor because of the blood-brain barrier, a layer of cells that protect the brain from anything foreign — including most drugs — in the blood. 

Because treatment options are limited, some parents choose to enroll their children in clinical trials.

Naomi’s Story

Naomi was just a normal 8-year-old girl until one day she collapsed in school and couldn’t remember her name. After several trips to the hospital, her parents finally got the diagnosis they never could have fathomed: stage 4 pinealoblastoma, a brain tumor of the pineal gland. It had already spread to her spine.

Naomi’s treatment plan is tough: she’s already had four brain surgeries, and she’s undergoing chemotherapy and 30 proton radiation treatments.

Naomi’s a little girl with a big heart, and she keeps her spirits up by helping the other children in the hospital. Last year, she gave away her Halloween candy to kids who couldn’t go trick-or-treating, and now she’s starting a teddy bear drive.

You can help kids like Naomi by making a donation to the American Childhood Cancer Organization. Your gift helps provide educational resources and support programs for children with cancer, survivors, and their families, as well as raise awareness about childhood cancer and the need for more research.

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Introducing Super Logan, a Childhood Cancer Superhero!

logan

“Super Logan” in the Batman costume in the middle.

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Logan, affectionately called “Super Logan” by his friends and family for his amazing, courageous fight against tremendous odds. On December 7, Logan and his family joined Hope 4 Heroes (ACCO’s Colorado-based Founding Hope Fund) and Rock Bottom Downtown Denver to participate in a public PJammin’ event organized by Colorado Rock Bottom Restaurants to raise awareness about childhood cancer. We would like to thank Logan and his family for taking the time to participate in this important event and for sharing their childhood cancer story with us.

Logan’s Story: Aggressive Stage Three Ependemoma (Brain Tumor)

Logan’s childhood cancer story began one evening in June, 2014 when he collapsed unconscious while walking to his parents’ bedroom. The five-year-old was rushed immediately to the local ER, where a CT scan showed that a large mass in his brain had hemorrhaged, causing paralysis on his left side. Logan was airlifted to a larger hospital, where his parents received the worst possible news: Logan had an inoperable brain tumor located inside his brainstem and he was unlikely to survive more than three days.

Logan’s parents, however, refused to accept this devastating diagnosis. They immediately sought a second opinion from surgeons at the Barrow Institute, part of the Phoenix Children’s Hospital, who believed that at least part of the tumor could be removed. Although the outcome was by no means guaranteed, surgeons felt that surgery could at least extend Logan’s life and give him a fighting chance. With nothing to lose, Logan was transferred to Phoenix Children’s Hospital for an eight-hour surgery.

In fact, the outcome was better than anyone could have imagined: Logan’s golf-ball-sized tumor was located entirely outside of the brainstem and the surgical team was able to remove it all, in its entirety. Logan’s family described the surgeon’s reaction when he told them the news as “giddy”, not a word one usually hears in these circumstances. Logan went into surgery hoping only that his life might be extended a little bit, but miraculously, came out cancer-free!

A Second Chance at Life, but A Very Long Road to Recovery

Yet despite this amazing outcome, Logan’s cancer journey was far from over. Although the tumor was gone, for now, Logan was unable to perform many basic functions that we take for granted every day, including talking, walking, and even swallowing. Moreover, he faced the very real possibility that the tumor, a fast-growing Ependemoma, would return without x-ray radiation therapy, a treatment as aggressive as the tumor and linked to significant long-term health risks and even secondary cancers.

Again, Logan’s family sought other options. So-called “traditional” X-ray radiation therapy is mostly commonly used as a post-surgical treatment for brain tumors like Logan’s, but is linked to severe side effects and even secondary cancers, especially in young children whose brains are still growing and developing. Instead, Logan’s parents took Logan to San Diego to undergo 6½ weeks of proton radiation therapy. The goal of proton radiation therapy is to more precisely target any remaining cancer cells, using pencil-beam scanning that carefully builds up the dose layer by layer exactly at the site of the tumor, hopefully limiting damage to surrounding healthy cells.

Thus far, Logan’s amazing “miracle” continues: his regular scans, although the source of extreme “scanxiety” so common for families fighting childhood cancer, have all come back clear, indicating that Logan is still cancer-free. But Logan still faces many, many challenges; “the past two years have been one trial after the next for our brave boy,” recounts Logan’s mother. Logan spent months in rehab after the surgery overcoming the paralysis caused by the tumor, re-learning to walk, talk, and even swallow. One therapist stated that Logan was one of the hardest swallowing cases she had ever seen and that her team honestly wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to swallow normally again.

The proton therapy has left its mark as well. He has been diagnosed with a vascular condition called Moyamoya and has suffered multiple strokes, including one that temporarily left him without sight. In March 2016, Logan underwent a second serious brain surgery. Most recently, abnormal weight gain has been linked to the development of central sleep apnea, a condition in which the brain no longer automatically commands breathing during sleep. Each day seems to bring new challenges to Logan and his family, but as his mother proudly notes, Logan never gives up: “Logan will always have battles to fight but we will be here and ready to stand strong next to him. He is an incredible boy and we are so proud to call him our son.

Thank you, Logan, for sharing your inspirational story with us and for showing us that it really is possible to fight, for showing us the true face of childhood cancer. You are a true Superhero!

About American Childhood Cancer Organization

American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO) is a non-profit charity dedicated to helping kids with cancer and their families navigate the difficult journey from cancer diagnosis through survivorship. Internationally, ACCO is the sole U.S. member of Childhood Cancer International (CCI), the largest patient-support organization for childhood cancer in the world. Here in the United States, ACCO promotes the critical importance of ensuring continued funding into new and better treatment protocols for childhood cancer.  And most importantly, ACCO is focused on the children: developing and providing educational tools for children fighting cancer and their families, empowering them in their understanding of childhood cancer and the medical decisions they must make during this difficult journey. All of ACCO’s resources are available free of charge for families coping with childhood cancer.

For additional information about childhood cancer or on the ACCO, or to order resources for you or your child, please visit our website at www.acco.org , call 855.858.2226 or visit:

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