Germ Cell Brain Tumors |Symptoms & Causes
生殖细胞脑肿瘤的症状是什么？
脑肿瘤可能主要基于肿瘤的位置引起儿童的多种症状。请记住，脑肿瘤的症状可能类似于其他更常见的疾病或医疗问题。重要的是要咨询孩子的医生持续症状。
生殖细胞脑肿瘤的症状通常取决于它们在大脑中发展的位置。对于松果体区域的肿瘤，儿童可以有以下症状：
- 脑积水（大脑肿胀）
- headache
- 呕吐
- 疲劳
- 行为或认知变化
- 不协调的身体运动（共济失调）
- vision changes, including double vision and difficulty looking up
对于上脑或垂体区域的肿瘤，常见症状包括：
- diabetes insipidus
- 青春期延迟
- early (precocious) puberty
- 生长发育迟缓
- vision changes including loss of peripheral vision or decrease in vision
是什么引起生殖细胞脑肿瘤？
生殖细胞脑肿瘤的原因尚不清楚。通常，生殖细胞在胎儿发育过程中迁移到性腺，并成为雌性卵巢的卵或雄性睾丸中的精子。但是，当这些生殖细胞没有移至正确的区域时，它们就会被困在大脑中，并在不应该的区域繁殖。It’s important to understand that these and other brain tumors most often occur with no known cause.
Germ Cell Brain Tumors |Diagnosis & Treatments
How are germ cell brain tumors diagnosed?
The first step in treating your child is forming an accurate and complete diagnosis. Germ cell brain tumors are typically diagnosed using a combination of imaging and biopsy. As with other brain tumors, diagnostic procedures for germ cell tumors of the brain can determine the exact type of tumor and whether it has spread.
您孩子的医师可能会订购许多不同的测试，包括：
- 身体检查和完整的病史
- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- 计算机断层扫描（CT或CAT扫描）
- blood tests to check for tumor markers
- 腰椎穿刺（脊柱水龙头）
您的医生可能会根据孩子的个人情况与您讨论其他诊断测试。
生殖细胞脑肿瘤有哪些治疗选择？
您的孩子的医生将根据几个因素来确定特定的治疗方法，包括孩子的年龄，整体健康和病史，肿瘤的类型，位置和大小以及疾病程度。
Treatments for germ cell brain tumors include:
- neurosurgery
- endoscopic third ventriculostomy or ventriculo-peritoneal shunt
- radiation therapy
- 化学疗法
What is the long-term outlook for children with germ cell brain tumors?
生殖细胞脑肿瘤儿童的预后取决于肿瘤的类型。一般来说，发芽瘤are cured in greater than 90 percent of cases with combined treatment. Non-germinomatous germ cell tumors have a 65 percent to 85 percent cure rate, depending on their spread at diagnosis. Mixed germ cell brain tumors are generally more difficult to treat.
Children treated for a germ cell tumor in the brain should visit a survivorship clinic every year to manage disease complications, screen for recurrence and manage late treatment side effects. A typical follow-up visit is likely to include a physical exam, laboratory testing and imaging scans.
在Stop and Shop Family Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Outcomes Clinic孩子与他们的神经外科医生,辐射oncologist, pediatric neuro-oncologist and neurologists at the same follow-up visit. Our multidisciplinary approach and depth of expertise also give your child on-site access to endocrinologists, neuro-psychologists and alternative/complementary therapy specialists. School liaison and psychosocial personnel from the pediatric brain tumor team are also available.