What is an astrocytoma?

Also known as: low-grade astrocytoma, high-grade astrocytoma

An Astrocytoma is a form of brain tumor (benign or cancerous), that develops in the cells that form the supportive tissue of the brain. These are known as astrocytes (a type of glial cell). About half of tumors of the brain in children are astrocytomas.

These tumors may be:

• "slow-growing" (low grade- Grade 1 or 2) or
• "fast-growing" (high-grade- Grade 3 or 4)

Most astrocytomas in children tend to be "low grade".

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM