Introduction

Tumors of the central nervous system (CNS) are the second most common type of childhood cancer after hematologic malignancies. Their biologic behavior, natural history, and amenability to treatment depend, to a large degree, on their histologic typing and grading1 but also on genetic, epigenetic, and other molecular signatures.2 More than half of all pediatric CNS tumors are of glial origin (gliomas). According to the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, the distribution of all primary CNS tumors by histology groupings in patients between ages 0-14 years during the period 2007-2011 demonstrated that the most common histologic group was glioma (52.9% of all brain and CNS tumors) followed by embryonal tumors (15.0% of all brain and CNS tumors).
Source: Seminars in Pediatric Neurology - Category: Neurology Authors: Source Type: research