What are the stages of Childhood Astrocytomas ?
Key Points
                    - The grade of the tumor is used to plan cancer treatment.          - Low-grade astrocytomas     - High-grade astrocytomas        - An MRI is done after surgery.
                
                
                    The grade of the tumor is used to plan cancer treatment.
                    Staging is the process used to find out how much cancer there is and if cancer has spread. It is important to know the stage in order to plan treatment.    There is no standard staging system for childhood astrocytoma. Treatment is based on the following:          - Whether the tumor is low grade or high grade.    - Whether the tumor is newly diagnosed or recurrent (has come back after treatment).        The grade of the tumor describes how abnormal the cancer cells look under a microscope and how quickly the tumor is likely to grow and spread.   The following grades are used:     Low-grade astrocytomas    Low-grade astrocytomas are slow-growing and rarely spread to other parts of the brain and spinal cord or other parts of the body. There are many types of low-grade astrocytomas. Low-grade astrocytomas can be either:            - Grade I tumors pilocytic astrocytoma, subependymal giant cell tumor, or angiocentric glioma.     - Grade II tumors diffuse astrocytoma, pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, or choroid glioma of the third ventricle.            Children who have neurofibromatosis type 1 may have more than one low-grade tumor in the brain. Children who have tuberous sclerosis have an increased risk of subependymal giant cell astrocytoma.       High-grade astrocytomas     High-grade astrocytomas are fast-growing and often spread within the brain and spinal cord. There are several types of high-grade astrocytomas. High grade astrocytomas can be either:            - Grade III tumors anaplastic astrocytoma or anaplastic pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma.      - Grade IV tumors glioblastoma or diffuse midline glioma.             Childhood astrocytomas usually do not spread to other parts of the body.
                
                
                    An MRI is done after surgery.
                    An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is done in the first few days after surgery. This is to find out how much tumor, if any, remains after surgery and to plan further treatment.