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Children Are Not Small Adults: Importance of Molecular Analysis for Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Treatment of Pediatric CNS Tumors

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Pediatric Neoplasia

Part of the book series: Molecular and Translational Medicine ((MOLEMED))

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Abstract

CNS tumors account for 20–24 % of all pediatric neoplasms, making brain tumors the most common type of solid neoplasm in children and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for children under the age of 14 years (Pediatrics 5:263–270, 2010). In overall frequency among pediatric neoplasms, CNS tumors are second only to leukemias, which account for 30 % of cases. Overall there are about 3,400 new cases a year within the USA (Curr Opin Pediatr 19:670–674, 2007). The biggest groups include gliomas (65 %), medulloblastomas and other embryonal tumors (26 %), and craniopharyngiomas (4 %) (J Child Neurol 24:1375–1386, 2009). There may be some variation in the frequency of specific tumors in different geographic areas. In Japan and Taiwan, for example, germ cell tumors and craniopharyngiomas are more common while medulloblastomas are rarer (Child’s Nerv Syst 26:1029–1034, 2010). The absolute number of cases presenting with a particular tumor is small because of the large diversity of pediatric brain tumors (Pediatrics 5:263–270, 2010).

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  1. Department of Pathology, University of Chicago Medical Center, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC 6101, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Peter Pytel MD

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  1. , Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, 53226, USA

    Alexander Craig Mackinnon Jr

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Pytel, P. (2012). Children Are Not Small Adults: Importance of Molecular Analysis for Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Treatment of Pediatric CNS Tumors. In: Mackinnon Jr, A. (eds) Pediatric Neoplasia. Molecular and Translational Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-116-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-62703-116-5_6

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