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Brain
tumors High
dose chemotherapy followed by rescue with peripheral stem cells collected from
the child has been incorporated into the treatment plan for some young children
with malignant brain tumors. These high risk tumors are sensitive to
extremely high doses of chemotherapy but these doses permanently damage
normal bone marrow. The stem cells "rescue" the patient by
replacing damaged or destroyed bone marrow. These types of therapies are
used in the very youngest patients in an effort to avoid the use of radiation
therapy with the hope of curing the child and at the same time avoiding the long
term problems from radiation to the brain of a young child. It is also
used in select children between 3-10 years of age in an effort to reduce the
radiation therapy dose.
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