How do you know that a child has a medulloblastoma?
Doctors and other medical professionals will use well-established diagnostic tests to see if a brain tumour is causing your
child’s symptoms. These tests will include a physical examination, and brain scans such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
or computerized tomography, which will identify the presence of a tumour. A sample of tissue will be taken at the time of
surgery to confirm the diagnosis. This small piece of tumour will be removed and sent to a doctor called a pathologist. She
will look at the tumour under a microscope to learn the exact type of tumour.
The doctors may ask permission to study the sample tumour cells further to learn more about their biology. At the moment,
the results of these tests do not influence treatment.
What is staging?
Staging determines the type of treatment that is most appropriate, which depends on the child’s age and factors related to
the tumour. Medulloblastoma is currently staged, or divided into two groups, called “average risk“ or “high risk.“
These stages are based on the collected results of previous treatments of children at hospitals around the world.
A medulloblastoma is called average risk if all of the following are true:
| Metastasized Tumour Cells |
 |
 |
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| Cancer cells from a brain tumour can sometimes spread to another part of the body, such as the spinal cord. This process is
called metastasis.
|
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All or most of the tumour was removed during surgery.
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The tumour cells have not spread to other parts of the brain or into the
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This is seen from a lumbar
puncture and MRI scan.
A medulloblastoma is called high risk if any of the following are true:
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Some of the tumour was not removed by surgery.
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The tumour cells have spread to other parts of the brain or into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
To stage the tumour, the following diagnostic tools are used: computerized tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) of the brain and spine, and lumbar puncture.
