Surgical staging of cerebellar astrocytomas in childhood

Benign cerebellar astrocytomas of childhood, when removed grossly in toto, have high cure rates and thus can be staged by their surgical resectability. Currently, total tumor resection is limited by attachment to or invasion of the tumor into the brain stem or by evidence of recurrence or metastases. Tumors of the cyst-nodule form are more often amenable to total gross removal because of their discrete margins and lateral placement, which is clear of brain stem structures. However, solid astrocytomas of the cerebellum, with or without visible cysts, may also be surgically cured if there is sufficient clearance from the brain stem. Patients with malignant astrocytomas of the cerebellum or metastases have much poorer prognoses. Preoperative and postoperative staging systems have been suggested based on these assumptions.