Ependymoma medical therapy
Ependymoma Microchapters |
Diagnosis |
---|
Treatment |
Case Studies |
Ependymoma medical therapy On the Web |
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Ependymoma medical therapy |
Risk calculators and risk factors for Ependymoma medical therapy |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: {[AAM}}
Overview
Medical Therapy
- The malignant (anaplastic) varieties of this tumor, malignant ependymoma and the ependymoblastoma, are treated similarly to medulloblastoma but the prognosis is much less favorable. Malignant ependymomas may be treated with a combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy.
Radiation Therapy
- For this reason, well-differentiated ependymomas are usually treated with radiation therapy only. Ependymoblastomas, which occur in infants and children younger than 5 years of age, may spread through the cerebrospinal fluid and usually require radiation therapy. The subependymoma, a variant of the ependymoma, arises in the fourth ventricle but may occur in the septum pellucidum and the cervical spinal cord.