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Ependymoma in the Children

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Oncology of CNS Tumors

Abstract

Ependymomas are rare tumors of neuroectodermal origin. Pediatric ependymomas, the focus of this chapter, are found primarily intracranially. Two-thirds of these are found infratentorially. Surgical resection remains the foundation of therapy for these tumors, and surgeons have to balance the goals of complete resection with minimizing postoperative neurological deficit given adherence to vital neurologic structures. Radiation is a commonly employed adjuvant therapy and is the standard of care for posterior fossa ependymomas in children. Chemotherapy continues to show little benefit for this disease. A new molecular classification has been recently validated and holds great promise for the accurate diagnosis and management of pediatric ependymoma, with potential for novel therapeutic targets that may improve prognosis in an otherwise difficult to manage tumor.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Dayton Children’s Hospital, Dayton, OH, USA

    Shobhan Vachhrajani

  2. Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, USA

    Shobhan Vachhrajani

  3. Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Corey Raffel

Authors
  1. Shobhan Vachhrajani
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  2. Corey Raffel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Corey Raffel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Munich Department of Neurosurgery, Munich, Germany

    Jörg-Christian Tonn

  2. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Center, Harvard University, Boston, USA

    David A. Reardon

  3. SickKids Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    James T. Rutka

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Manfred Westphal

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Vachhrajani, S., Raffel, C. (2019). Ependymoma in the Children. In: Tonn, JC., Reardon, D., Rutka, J., Westphal, M. (eds) Oncology of CNS Tumors. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04152-6_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04152-6_27

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-04152-6

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