Your child’s doctor will recommend radiation treatment based on your child’s type and location of tumor. Radiation is used for slow-growing tumors that cannot be reduced in size by surgery because of their location and for tumors that continue to grow despite chemotherapy. Fast-growing tumors usually need radiation in conjunction with surgery and chemotherapy.

Childhood brain and spinal cord tumors that usually respond to radiation include high-grade gliomas, medulloblastomas, ependymomas, germinomas, and some low-grade astrocytomas. Although radiation to the brain or spinal cord can cause long-term complications, it is an important part of successful treatment for many types of brain and spinal cord tumors. Because of the greater risk of long-term complications in younger children, radiation treatments are delayed until the child reaches the age of 3 by using surgery or chemotherapy whenever possible.