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It's is often hard to find the words to express the feeling of hopelessness that encompasses parents and families whose precious, innocent children are facing this horrendous disease. You are not alone. Scour our website to find unbiased information related to treatment methods and support groups. Check our upcoming events to meet with other families who have already experienced or are still experiencing treatment for pediatric brain cancer. Have live online chats (coming soon) with other members on this site. We're here for you. The links provided below are for unbiased, informational purposes only! Again, we do not endorse nor recommend any one specific method of treatment. At the end of each paragraph, there are links that you may click on to find additional information each specific area.
Click on any of these titles for a more detailed explanation
Types of Treatment - Standard/Conventional Medicine The following information was taken directly from the National Cancer institute website, for more information, go to www.cancer.gov There are treatments for all children with brain tumors. Three kinds of treatment are used:
More than one method of treatment may be used, depending on the needs of the patient. Experienced doctors working together may provide the best treatment for children with brain tumors. Your child’s treatment will often be coordinated by a pediatric oncologist, a doctor who specializes in cancer in children. The pediatric oncologist may refer your child to other specialists, such as a pediatric neurosurgeon (a specialist in childhood brain surgery), a pediatric neurologist, a psychologist, a radiation oncologist, and other doctors who specialize in the type of treatment your child requires. Treatment options often depend on the type of tumor and its location within the brain. Complete or near complete removal of the tumor is often possible. If the tumor cannot be completely removed, radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy may also be given. Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation from x-rays and other sources to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Radiation therapy for childhood brain tumors usually comes from a machine outside the body (external radiation therapy). For some types of brain tumors, clinical trials are evaluating radiation therapy given in several small doses per day (hyperfractionated radiation therapy). Since radiation therapy can affect growth and brain development, other clinical trials are testing ways to decrease or delay radiation therapy, especially for younger children who have not yet achieved full growth. Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs may be taken by mouth or injected into a vein (intravenous) or muscle. Chemotherapy is called a systemic treatment because the drug enters the bloodstream, travels through the body, and can kill cancer cells throughout the body. Chemotherapy is being studied in clinical trials as a means of delaying, modifying or eliminating the need for radiation therapy in younger patients, as well as for use prior to or during radiation therapy.
Types of Treatment (Complimentary/Alternative) Complimentary/Alternative medicine is defined as:
Doctors/Oncologists/Alternative Specialists we came in contact with
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