What happens if there is a recurrence of ependymoma?
Patients with recurrent tumors face a difficult challenge. When possible, patients undergo surgical re-resection of tumor. This often provides symptom improvement, reduces the tumor burden and confirms the presence of the tumor (as opposed to treatment-related necrosis) and the histologic grade (II versus III). However, radiation therapy is often not administered due to concerns about injuring the surrounding normal brain or spinal cord tissue. Therefore, treatment for recurrent ependymomas and anaplastic ependymomas relies on chemotherapy regimens. Conventional chemotherapy, also known as cytotoxic chemotherapy, has been a mainstay of cancer treatment for several decades. However, although there are reports that a variety of chemotherapy agents have been shown to have activity against ependymomas, there are no established standard regimens. The CERN is actively investigating new treatment regimens and is developing new treatment agents to improve the options for patients with regrowin
