Craniopharyngioma medical therapy
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Craniopharyngioma Microchapters |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Case Studies |
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Craniopharyngioma medical therapy On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Craniopharyngioma medical therapy |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Craniopharyngioma medical therapy |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Patients with craniopharyngioma have many treatment options. The selection depends on the size, location of the tumor. The options are surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of these methods.
Medical Therapy
The mainstay of therapy for craniopharyngioma is surgery with or without radiation. Although systemic therapy is generally not utilized, a small series has shown that the use of subcutaneous pegylated interferon alpha-2b to manage cystic recurrences can result in durable responses.[1]
The chemotherapy drugs Paclitaxel and Carboplatin have shown a clinical (but not statistical) significance in increasing the survival rate in patients who've had gross total resections of their malignant tumors.
Intracavitary instillation of radioactive P-32, bleomycin, or interferon-alpha, for those with cystic recurrences.
References
- ↑ Rx of Craniopharyngioma. Cancer gov. http://www.cancer.gov/types/brain/hp/child-cranio-treatment-pdq#link/_40_toc