ON THIS PAGE: You will learn about the different types of treatments doctors use for children with brain stem glioma. Use the menu to see other pages.

ON THIS PAGE: You will find some helpful links to other areas of Cancer.Net that provide information about care and treatment for a child with brain stem glioma. This is the final page of Cancer.Net’s Guide to Childhood Brain Stem Glioma. Use the menu to go back and see other pages.

ON THIS PAGE: You will find some questions to ask your child’s doctor or other members of the health care team, to help you better understand your child’s diagnosis, treatment plan, and overall care. Use the menu to see other pages.

ON THIS PAGE: You will read about your child’s medical care after treatment is finished and why this follow-up care is important. Use the menu to see other pages.

Care for children diagnosed with brain stem glioma does not end when active treatment has finished. Your child’s health care team will continue to check that the tumor has not come back, manage any side effects, and monitor your child’s overall health. This is called follow-up care. All children treated for brain stem glioma should have life-long, follow-up care.

ON THIS PAGE: You will learn more about coping with the physical, emotional, social, and financial effects of cancer and its treatment. Use the menu to see other pages.

Every treatment for brain stem glioma can cause side effects or changes to your child’s body and how they feel. For many reasons, children do not experience the same side effects even when given the same treatment. This can make it hard to predict how your child will feel during treatment.

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ON THIS PAGE: You will learn more about clinical trials, which are the main way that new medical approaches are studied to see how well they work. Use the menu to see other pages.

ON THIS PAGE: You will learn about how doctors describe the growth or spread of brain stem glioma. This is called the stage or grade. Use the menu to see other pages.

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• What is tumor staging?

ON THIS PAGE: You will find a list of common tests, procedures, and scans that doctors use to find the cause of a medical problem. Use the menu to see other pages.

Doctors use many tests to find, or diagnose, a brain stem glioma. They also do tests to learn if the tumor has spread to another part of the body from where it started. If the cancer has spread, it is called metastasis. Doctors may also do tests to learn which treatments could work best.

ON THIS PAGE: You will find out more about the changes and medical problems that can be a sign of brain stem glioma. Use the menu to see other pages.

ON THIS PAGE: You will find out more about the factors that increase the chance of developing brain stem glioma. Use the menu to see other pages.

What are the risk factors for brain stem glioma?

A risk factor is anything that increases a person’s chance of developing a tumor. Although risk factors often influence the development of a tumor, most do not directly cause a tumor. Some people with several risk factors never develop a tumor, while others with no known risk factors do.