What is the initial treatment for medulloblastomas following surgical resection in children?
For children older than 3 years, average-risk patients receive craniospinal irradiation with weekly vincristine and then adjuvant chemotherapy (vincristine, cisplatin, and CCNU or vincristine, cisplatin, and cyclophosphamide) whereas high-risk patients receive craniospinal irradiation with concurrent carboplatin and vincristine, followed by six cycles of cyclophosphamide and vincristine with or without cisplatin.
Children younger than 3 years who receive craniospinal radiation are at high risk for serious damage to their developing nervous systems.
Therefore, treatment is limited to multichemotherapeutic drug regimens without radiation.
