Astrocytoma (patient information)

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Astrocytoma
Overview
What are the symptoms?
What are the causes?
Who is at highest risk?
Diagnosis
When to seek urgent medical care?
Treatment options
Where to find medical care for Astrocytoma?
Prevention
What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?
Possible complications
Astrocytoma On the Web
Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov
Images of Astrocytoma
Videos on Astrocytoma
FDA on Astrocytoma
CDC on Astrocytoma
Astrocytoma in the news
Blogs on Astrocytoma
Directions to Hospitals Treating Astrocytoma
Risk calculators and risk factors for Astrocytoma

Editor-in-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S.,M.D. [1] Phone:617-632-7753; Associate Editor-In-Chief: Jinhui Wu, M.D.

Overview

Astrocytoma is a type of glioma that origins from astrocytes. Astrocytes can support and nourish neurons and help repair the damage when the brain is injured. Astrocytoma occupies 30% of brain tumors.

What are the symptoms of astrocytoma?

Usual symptoms include headache, nausea and vomiting, seizure, hydrocephalus, weakness, or numbness in the extremities. Sometimes astrocytoma may spread along the cerebrospinal fluid pathways, but rare spread outside of the brain or spinal cord.

Diagnosis

Head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the best way for diagnosis.

Treatment options

Treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, gene therapy, or a combination of them. Because most astrocytomas can spread widely throughout the normal brain tissue, it may be very hard to remove by surgery.

Where to find medical care for astrocytoma?

Directions to Hospitals Treating astrocytoma

What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?

Prognosis depends on the grade of the cancer.

Related Chapters

• Glioma (patient information)

Source

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_brain_and_spinal_cord_tumors_3.asp?rnav=cri

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