An astrocytoma is a type of brain tumour that develops from cells called astrocytes, which are found in the brain. Astrocytes support our neurons and are a type of glial cell.
Astrocytomas are always primary brain tumours, because astrocytes are only found in the brain.
However, because astrocytes are found throughout our brains, this means that astrocytoma can occur in any part of the brain.
Astrocytomas can appear in two forms: diffuse or circumscribed. A diffuse tumour is one where there is no clear boundary between the cancer cells and the normal brain tissue. Circumscribed astrocytomas, meanwhile, are more localised. The boundaries between these types of tumour and the surrounding brain tissue is much more defined.
What are the symptoms of astrocytoma?
The symptoms you may experience that indicate you have an astrocytoma will vary depending on the part of the brain in which the tumour is growing. However, there are some general symptoms to be aware of.
These include persistent headaches, difficulty speaking, finding it challenging to remember information or to think clearly in general, seizures and experiencing changes in your vision such as blurriness or seeing double.
Of course, these symptoms can also apply to many other conditions, so it’s important that you seek the advice of a medical professional and potentially seek support from a
neuroscience hospital if it looks like you may have some form of brain tumour or another neurological disease.
How is astrocytoma diagnosed?
If your doctor suspects you may have astrocytoma, they are likely to request you have an MRI scan or CT scan to enable them to see what is happening in your brain. They are also likely to require you to have a neurological exam and in some cases may request a biopsy of a suspected tumor.
These tests are important because they help your oncologist and neurosurgeon to work out the best course of treatment for your specific situation.
An MRI or CT scan will also help your oncologist when they are targeting the tumour with treatment such as radiotherapy, which is very targeted.
How serious is astrocytoma?
Like all cancers, astrocytomas are given grades. As a general rule, the lower the grade (number), the less serious the cancer is.
Astrocytomas are graded from 1 to 4 by the World Health Organization (WHO).
A grade 1 tumour is therefore the most benign and slowest growing, while a grade 4 is the most serious because these tumours are faster growing and more malignant. Glioblastoma is a grade 4 type of astrocytoma.
Your oncologist will explain the grade of your tumour when they give you your diagnosis and they will talk you through all of your options for treatment and how to support your road to recovery.
What are the treatments for astrocytoma?
For grade 1 tumours, surgery is often sufficient to remove the cancer and lead to a recovery. For tumours that are grades 2 to 4, surgery usually forms part of the treatment pathway, with radiotherapy and chemotherapy used to help further reduce the size of the tumour.
It may not always be possible to remove the whole tumour with neurosurgery. However, removing even part of the tumour can help to alleviate your symptoms and slow its progression.
In some cases, the best course of action following surgery is radiotherapy, which uses radiation beams to target and destroy the cancer cells. The aim of this treatment is to shrink the tumour, slow its growth and alleviate any symptoms the patient is experiencing as a result.
Radiotherapy is typically delivered through multiple sessions over a course of several weeks. This allows the healthy tissue around the tumour to recover in between your sessions.
Astrocytoma cells display certain gene changes – which are called IDH mutant due to the gene they affect (the isocitrate dehydrogenase gene, or IDH). One study is
looking for biomarkers in low-grade tumours that could help indicate what treatments will be most effective for patients post-surgery.
This particular piece of research is focusing on which patients will benefit most, and least, from temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy. The hope is that when doctors are able to work out which patients will get the greatest benefits from TMZ, those patients may be able to delay or avoid other treatments such as radiotherapy.
Oncologist
Dr Paul Mulholland, who is part of the team at Queen Square, exclusively treats brain cancer and is involved in research around developing biomarkers and targets for therapy. He runs a clinical trial portfolio of novel agents in brain cancer at University College London Hospitals (UCLH).
Learn more about our advanced radiotherapy and neurosurgical treatments for astrocytoma on the Queen Square website.
