Treatment
Surgery is often the treatment of choice. Total resection is often possible; however, the location could prohibit access to the neoplasm and lead to incomplete or no resection at all. Removal of the tumor will generally allow functional survival for many years. The five-year survival has been reported to be over 90% with well-resected tumors. In particular for pilocytic astrocytomas (that are commonly indolent bodies that may permit normal neurologic function) surgeons may decide to monitor the neoplasm's evolution and postpone surgical intervention for some time. However, left unattended these tumors may eventually undergo neoplastic transformation.
Some articles mention ultrasonic aspiration as a minimal invasive technique for solid neoplasms.
Because of the age of people diagnosed with pilocytic astrocytoma, the treating medical team will often try to avoid radiotherapy and chemotherapy in order avoid damage to the developing brain. There is evidence in literature to suggest that the careful use of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy may be useful as a complementary treatment in case of incompletely resection of the neoplasm.
Read more about this topic: Pilocytic Astrocytoma
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