Treatment

Ependymoma treatment options include:

• Surgery to remove the ependymoma. Brain surgeons (neurosurgeons) work to remove as much of the ependymoma as possible. The goal is to remove the entire tumor, but sometimes the ependymoma is located near sensitive brain or spinal tissue that makes that too risky.

  If the entire tumor is removed during surgery, your child may not require any additional treatment. If some tumor remains, the neurosurgeon may recommend another operation to try to remove the rest of the tumor. Additional treatments, such as radiation therapy, may be recommended for more aggressive tumors or if all of the tumor can't be removed.

• Radiation therapy. Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams, such as X-rays or protons, to kill cancer cells. During radiation therapy, your child lies on a table while a machine moves around him or her, directing beams to precise points in the brain.

  Radiation therapy may be recommended after surgery to help prevent more aggressive tumors from recurring or if neurosurgeons weren't able to remove the tumor completely.

  Specialized techniques can help to ensure that treatment delivers radiation to the tumor cells and spares as much of the surrounding healthy tissue as possible. Conformal radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy and proton therapy are types of radiation therapy that allow doctors to carefully and precisely deliver radiation.

• Radiosurgery. Technically a type of radiation and not an operation, stereotactic radiosurgery focuses multiple beams of radiation on precise points to kill the tumor cells. Radiosurgery is sometimes used when an ependymoma recurs after surgery and radiation.
• Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy isn't very effective for most cases of ependymoma. The role of chemotherapy is still largely experimental and is reserved for certain situations, such as when the tumor grows back despite surgery and radiation.
• Clinical trials. Clinical trials are studies of new treatments. These studies give you a chance to try the latest treatment options, but the risk of side effects may not be known. Ask your doctor whether your child might be eligible to participate in a clinical trial.